Time Goes On
by readthesign24
Summary: Follow Kel after the end of Lady Knight. Sorry I know bad summery. There is a better one inside. Eventual K/D. I have this listed in the Song of the lioness section under Clicking of the clock, same story, but it wouldn't let me put them in both sections at once.
1. Chapter 1

So this is my first attempt at writing a fan fiction about any topic, I have a few that faithfully follow, but I've been reading a lot of Protector of the small ones and really just not finding many, there are a few, that cover what I want them too and the length that I like. I have no idea how long this will be, but I would expect at least 20,000 words but probably more, or really where it will go. This will eventually be Kel/Dom. Please if anyone reading would like to see something happen or anything to say let me know. Also, I will very rarely be giving actual character descriptions, I figure if you enjoyed the books enough to be reading fan fiction, you know what everyone looks like. This fanfic will be rated T, if I get comfortable enough I may add M rated scenes to the story, I would just make 2 stories though and have one rated T and the other M with everything else the same, not sure about it yet though. And even though I have read the series more times then I care to disclose, I haven't read it in a while so I am slightly foggy with the ending of Lady Knight. So I'm just making up / slightly basing it off what I remember for the first chapter or so. So please don't expect it to perfectly follow the book.

Now the sad part, I do not own any of the protector of the small quartet

Chapter 1

Kel woke with a groan. 'Why am I so curst tired' she thought.

"Oh, yes, killing a mad man and traveling hundreds of miles with all the injured survivors, not to mention my injured self," Kel muttered indignantly.

"I hope you mean gravely injured self Kel!" screamed Neal. Kel slightly winced, but wouldn't allow him the full satisfaction.

"I have no idea what you're talking about Nealan. I was perfectly fine, it was just a scratch."

"A SCRATCH Kel! The thing went all the way through you, nearly to the bone, and was almost as long as my hand! And my hands aren't small either!" shouted Neal as he began pacing. "Not only was I scared to death once I actually saw what you had done to yourself, I was also chewed out by not only the Lioness, yes they called her here once we all went missing, but also my father, the STUMP, and Lord Raoul. Because they all came when you got your hair brained idea!"

Kel took a deep breath to respond, but was cut off before she could begin.

"Yes, I know you had to go, just as you know we had to follow you there."

Neal stopped pacing and talking, which usually wasn't a good sign. He stared at her for several seconds.

Kel was sitting, trying not to meet his eye. She truly felt guilty for them all following her. She didn't want them to come; they followed her on their own accord, it was their choice. However, deep down she knew that wasn't true, they had to follow her. She was theirs as much as they were hers. She would have done the same thing if the situation was reversed, however unlikely that would be. She is the only one pea-brained enough to get the idea to go across enemy lines on their own to rescue peasants that were taken by a force possibly hundreds if not more strong.

Finally after what seemed like hours, though in reality wasn't more than 15 second Neal spoke," Just, please Kel, please never do something so stupid again. You're my best friend Kel, if anything happened to you I would be lost. I know you can't promise me anything, because I know you. You would do it all again in a heartbeat if it meant saving your people, but try to at least stay alive," he spoke barely above a whisper.

"Besides," he finally chuckled, "Yuki would kill me herself if I let you go get yourself killed."

Kel finally appreciating the lighter tone responded with her own hollow chuckle.

"Now we wouldn't want that," she choked out.

They sat in silence for a few moments before the infirmary door opened. In walked Lord Raoul, normally she would be ecstatic to see her Lord, today though, not so much. She knew from the hard scowl he was wearing on her face she was about to be in trouble. And she knew that she honestly deserved it.

"Well," said Lord Raoul shortly, "I can see that Neal already beat me to the lectures." He paused for, what Kel was sure was, dramatic effect. Her Lord always had a flare for the dramatic if he would help it.

"So," he continued," I don't have to do it thank the goddess."

Now it was Kel's turn to be the dramatic one with a gasp, causing Lord Raoul to stop.

"But, my Lord, I deserted my post, disobeyed direct orders, crossed into enemy lines, which was strictly forbidden by His Majesty, had those buffoons follow me, I got people killed"

Raoul cut her off, "And you saved hundreds of innocent lives, most important of all the children's, killed Blayce and Stenmun, stopped the killing machines, and just turned this war in our favor. Kel, I have never been more proud of you. You are an amazing young woman, if I have ever seen one, and I know Alanna so that's saying a lot."

Kel just stared at him blankly. How, how could he possibly be saying this to her.? Wasn't he going to reprimand her, throw her in the dungeon, wait that would be Lord Wyldon. How can he compare me to the Lioness, she is 20 times the warrior I am.

"But, my Lord."

"I don't want to hear anything about this Kel," he spoke loudly," You have been through a lot, almost managing to get yourself killed because you wouldn't allow yourself to be healed properly."

"Neal couldn't do," she muttered. Looking down at her fingers as she spoke.

"Yes, Neal could," interjected Neal himself. "I tried to countless times, but you brushed me off. I knew I should have demanded you show me. This is all my fault. I know you, you put everyone before yourself, even if it means killing you in the process." He finished with a scowl.

"No, Neal, I did this not you. Please don't blame yourself, but all those children and the other injured needed you more."

"And I should have been the one to decide that after looking at your wound," he said adamantly.

"Well, Neal, I think we should allow our Lady Knight to get her rest. Lord Wyldon wants to see you, Keladry, first thing in the morning. I managed to get him to hold off the long so you could get some rest. Well," Lord Raoul chuckled, " That and Alanna threated to cut off his, well….Let's just say even Lord Wyldon wasn't willing to test the Lioness when she was in such a rage. Get some rest Kel, you're going to need it. You have a long couple of days ahead and some very anxious people to talk to. Not to mention a very lengthy note to write to your parents."

Kel was too tired to hold her Yamani mask in place and visibly shuddered. 'Why, why, why did they have to tell my parents? I hate worrying them. I just hope once I explain everything they will forgive me.'

Lord Raoul broke her thoughts, "Goodnight Kel. Come on Neal, lets allow our hero to get some rest, you can check on her in a few hours since I heard your father started your punishment by having the night time infirmary post for a few days."

"Thank you so much for reminding me Lord Raoul," groaned Neal. "Goodnight Kel, I'll check on you in 10 minutes and if you still haven't fallen asleep I'll bring you something. Your lovely shoulder wound started to get infected, so you really need to get all the rest you can. I managed to clean it all out, which I must say was one positive to you fainting, you couldn't move while I cleaned, but you need rest. Remember Kel, no more stupid, that's my job, and sometimes I may share the title with Dom. Get some sleep."

With that Neal turned and walked away following after Lord Raoul, probably to make sure he didn't wake up anymore wounded in his care. Kel could tell it was most likely dusk since it seemed to be getting darker as their conversation went on.

Kel knew she was going to be in trouble in the morning. You don't do what she did and not have consequences, that's not how it worked. She was already told she would still be a knight that's sadly as far as they got before she thoroughly embarrassed herself by fainting in front of everyone standing in the courtyard, but would she just be quietly tucked away in a corner now, or put into a highly dangerous post to speed up her death. With those thoughts she let out a groan and rolled over and fell asleep. With no need for Neal's horrible concoctions, even with all her thoughts to bother her.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Kel woke to the morning light landing annoyingly in her eyes. Normally she was a morning person, but after all she went through recently, she was still too exhausted to find that person at the moment. Then with wakefulness came the remembrance of her dreaded meeting. She let out a loud groan of frustration, which in retrospect was not the best idea, because a certain healer friend came rushing over to check on her the moment she uttered the noise.

"Kel! Kel are you ok?" Neal asked frantically. "What hurts? Can you talk to me? What's wrong? Kel! Say something Kel?!"

"I would say something if you would stop talking long enough for me to do so," let out a frustrated Kel. "No I don't hurt, I am perfectly fine, unless you count that I am going to have to go to a meeting with almost all the people that I look up to the most, that I have thoroughly disappointed. Unless you have a cure for that Nealan, I am pretty sure there is nothing you can do right now. Maybe afterwards I'll come back down so you can just kill me and get it over with."

"Now Kel, Lord Raoul already told you before, they aren't disappointed. They are all thrilled that you managed to pull this off. Just be happy you did pull this off, because otherwise you probably would be getting in trouble. Why don't you just try to relax and we'll get breakfast up here for you," said Neal.

With that Neal turned and walked away with what seemed no troubles. In reality Kel knew that wasn't true. Her friend was terrified he almost lost her, even though he would never admit to that if asked. She was wondering if anyone else was that worried about her.

About two hours later saw her standing outside Lord Wyldon's office, staring at the handle, maybe if Kel stared at it long enough it would just disappear. She knew that wasn't going to happen though, especially once she heard Lord Wyldon speak.

"Keladry, stop standing in front of that door and come in here before I make you climb the highest thing I can find. You need to report," Lord Wyldon shouted through the door.

That spurred Kel into action. Never one to disobey a direct order from any superior, let alone Lord Wyldon. However, once she opened the door she was beginning to rethink her actions. Standing there was Lord Wyldon, the Lioness, Lord Raoul, and Duke Baird. The only one missing were her parents to make the whole shaming committee complete.

With this thought Kel set her shoulders and stood up straight. 'No,' she thought, 'I saved hundreds of lives, thousands if you think that there will be no more killing machines to ravage the war fields. I killed 2 evil men that were trying to destroy all that I hold dear. Doing horrible things to those children. I will not allow anyone to try and shame me for those actions. I will hold my head high and face whatever may come from it, because I would surely do it again.'

Kel then took purposeful steps into the room. The others in the room could sense the dramatic shift in her mood and were thankful for it. How else where they going to get her to agree to what the king wanted. They had talked to the King about what they knew from everyone else through looking bowls that Numair set up so they can correspond without having to wait weeks for a letter to arrive. Already he was beyond praise and that's without even hearing what Keladry herself had to say. They never expected her to return in all honesty. That was why they wrote her parents, to warn them that their daughter may very well be dead since, she didn't return within a few days of the Own leaving. They expected them all to die, but they returned victorious. The King was beyond pleased, not that he would actually admit to it. He had a reputation to hold.

"Keladry, please sit down before you keel over," muttered Wyldon. "You have a report to give me, and the rest of us. You may give us your verbal report now and I will give you 5 days to complete a written report. Now begin."

As Kel explained all that happened, the occupants of the room sat stunned. They didn't know why they ever doubted Keladry. A girl, no woman, which never failed in anything she put her mind to. They listened as she recounted crossing the border, though she left out how exactly they managed to get across the river. Told them of the traveling party they took out with her handful of warriors and the stunning strategy used to rescue the adults. Then the village occupants, which had returned with her. She told them of what she truly believed happened to those children before they were finally killed. How a man can be so vile and sickening was beyond them all. Why he had to go beyond just killing them to torture them before hand with his own sick perversions they would never know. Recounting the battle at the castle, they were in awe. They sacked an entire castle with just her handful of people, with minimal loses. They gathered all they could and traveled with hundreds through enemy territory to return. Thankfully Lord Wyldon was waiting, because she had no idea how to return them all to the right side of the Vassa.

"Well Kel," Lady Alanna finally got out, "It looks like your training finally paid off. I knew I was making a wonderful investment in getting you all those gifts. Though why you had to travel back without allowing yourself to be properly taken care of is beyond me. You were nearly on your deathbed when you finally fainted; or did Nealan not tell you that you have been asleep for almost 4 days. He had to literally scrub the infection out of that wound you had. Do not allow it to happen again Keladry, or I will personally take care of it myself. And I will make sure you are awake to feel it all."

Kel's Yamani mask was on. She was a lake, a nice calm, calm lake.

"I am sorry I worried everyone, but I will not apologize for my actions. I was in command and did what I thought was necessary," Kel said sternly.

"I know Kel," said Alanna. "Just don't let it happen again."

"So Keladry, now we come to the part of what is to be done," Lord Wyldon started. "The King has declared a national holiday for the defeat of the killing macheans. Of course he said that he sent you and all the men on a top secret mission. Couldn't let it look like you disobeyed orders since you were actually successful. Now if you had not been it would be a much different story. Probably full of you getting towed down to the capital in chains to face execution. But seeing as you did complete the mission the King sent you on, you will be having a purse sent up for your reward and an, undisclosed to the public, favor from the King to be granted, within reason. Of course, that part will go no farther than this room. I would think long and hard before you choose to use it though Kel. The other men will also be receiving a purse, though not as large since you were the commander. The convicts will all be receiving their freedom for their heroic actions and given the choice to stay on and help rebuild the refugee camp or having an escort out of the warzone to make their way home. You will be happy to know they all decided to stay. The rebuilt refugee camp will receive 2 more squads of men for protection. They will also receive all supplies including basic foods for a year, so that there is time to plant crops for harvest. There are some other plans in the works, but I was told to keep quiet until they are worked out. You are to remain the commander of the refugees and oversee the rebuilding of the camp. You will be with them for the unforeseeable future as long as this war is going on. Those people have undying faith in you now, and the King is not above using that to his advantage. They will follow your orders unquestioningly and I know you will not abuse that privilege. Now Keladry, go get some rest and remember, I want that report in 5 days."

Kel just stood there in silence. She didn't start to move until Raoul put his arm around her shoulder and ushered her out of the room, down the hallway, and then outside. It wasn't until the fresh air hit her that she came out of her stupor. After that she could hear all the men giving her congratulations on a mission well done. It seemed as though only her, the guys that went with her, her commanders, and herself knew what actually happened. And she was sure they were all sworn to secrecy about it.

"There will be a meeting tomorrow to introduce you to your new squads. Of course you already know one of them, you'll be getting Dom's squad from my very own Third Company for the remainder of the war. It was figured they would do well since they also have building skills and can handle themselves in a skirmish."

Kel got excited by this, she got along with all the men in Dom's squad, but most of all she was excited about the prospect of getting to spend more time around Dom. She just hoped she wouldn't be too distracted by his presence.


	3. Chapter 3

I would like to give a big thank you to MegSkoomaPirate for giving me my first review. Remember people, I need to know if you like where I'm taking this thing. So please review!

Chapter 3

The next day had passed uneventfully. Kel worked on her report and wrote a lengthy letter home to her parents. Letting them know she was fine and not in trouble, much to her own disbelief. She was just getting ready to go down to her meeting with Lord Raoul when she heard a knock on her door.

"Kel, are you still in there," she heard Dom say.

"Hold on a second Dom," she said as she rose to open the door. "Did you need something? I have to go to a meeting soon."

"Well that's why I'm here, you apparently forgot that I am going to be at said meeting and wanted to know if our valiant Lady Knight would care to join me on the walk down," he said with a glint in his eye while holding out his elbow for her to take. "Unless, of course, you couldn't possibly be seen with a scoundrel like myself."

Kel could see the mischief waiting to get out of him, but she was in such a good mood she couldn't help but play along.

"If you could give me one moment Sergeant, I will clean up my papers."

Kel neatened her papers and then set them on the corner of her desk. She then turned around and looped her arm through his elbow and allowed him to lead to her meeting. Laughing the whole way about the horrible pranks he pulled while she was out of it. He was keeping himself very busy so as not to think of his friends he lost and those that still sat in the infirmary. At least that's what he was telling himself.

They finally reached the door to Lord Raoul's office and walked in, still carrying on. They were interrupted by a cough from Lord Raoul.

"Well, I'm glad you two could make it, but unless you would like to let me in on the joke it is time to get down to business," Raoul stated. "We have some things to go over. This is Sergeant Atticus, with the Army. He will is the leader of the other squad that will be with you. They will also be staying for the remainder of the war as well."

That is when Kel turned and noticed the other man in her side of the desk. Sergeant Atticus was taller than her Lord, which was saying something. He was probably around 6'7" if she had to guess, looked to be around 29. He had what she could tell used to be pale skin that had been darkened by the sun and freckles to go with. His hair was strawberry blond with lighter streaks running through it, most likely from being out in the sun so much, and eyes as green as the grass in summer. His body was built well, not as stocky as her Lord, but still well-muscled. Kel could tell he would be able to hold his own.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Sergeant Atticus," Kel said. "Please forgive Sergeant Domitan and myself, he was filling me in on the shenanigans Third Company has been up to while I was indisposed. If I may be so bold to ask Sargent, what is your age?"

"I will be 30 in September Lady Knight. May I ask why this is of importance?"

"You just seem very young to be in charge of a full squadron of men. I just want to make sure that you are up to the job. I am not an easy task master Sergeant, this will not be an easy post for you or your men. There is a lot of hard work to be done," Kel said, with a hard look in her eyes, but all the while secretly enjoying the deep baritone of his voice.

"If I may say Lady Knight, the same could be said about yourself, or even Sergeant Domitan."

Dom started to stir now that this man was thinking of talking back to Kel. Before Dom could say anything Kel started to talk again.

"I am fully aware of my age and that of Sergeant Domitan's. I was placed as commander of Haven because I was the best suited for the job. I know what Sergeant Domitan is capable of from my years as a squire to Lord Raoul and then the more recent battle experience we have together. I, however, do not know anything about you and need to ensure that I can trust you with the lives of my people."

"But," replied Sergeant Atticus with an intense look, "not with your own life Lady Knight?"

Dom could not remain silent any longer.

"Just worry about doing your job Sergeant," he said tightly.

By now Kel had her Yamani mask on to prevent herself from blushing. Why in the world would he say something like that?

"Sergeant Atticus," she started with her eyes blazing, "Please understand that while every life matters, and I mean every. From the smallest babe to the oldest person that can only sit and have others care for them. They all matter, every man or woman under my command knows that those lives come before my own. My job is to see that everyone is safe, even if it means that I am not."

Raoul sat back watching this interaction, hiding a smirk with his hand, Kel could be a handful if she wanted. And if he didn't know any better he would say that Sergeant Atticus was flirting, however, it appeared that Dom did not appreciate it. Though if it is beyond brotherly affection or not he couldn't say. He would just have to keep his eye on this. It could prove to be interesting very quickly.

"I see Lady Keladry," replied Sergeant Atticus, "I can assure you that I will in no way undermine your authority. And as for if I am qualified for my job, the answer is yes. I know that some people have been moved up faster in the army then usual due to the increased loses of the war, but I have proven myself for the position I hold in countless battles. I have killed over 6 Killing machines with the help of my squad. I was promoted because of my actions, not just to fill a spot."

"Thank you Sergeant, for letting me know that. It makes me feel better about having you under my command. I hope you know that I do not put up with those that are insubordinate. When I give an order I expect it to be followed. I do not give allowances for those that have problems with my age or my gender. And if I find any in your squad that do I will personally correct it on the training grounds or with extra duties. If you are unable to follow that then I suggest you request for a different post," Kel finished.

"I wouldn't dream of it," came Sergeant Atticus's reply with a glint in his eyes.

Dom sat watching this man. He couldn't tell why, but he didn't like him. Honestly, he had the urge to punch him in the face at the moment. Dom could tell he was going to need to keep an eye on one Sergeant Atticus.

"Is there anything else of importance my Lord," Dom heard Kel saying.

"Yes, yes, this here is the map of the valley Haven was in. I was able to convince Wyldon not to rebuild in the same spot. Even though it would cut down on costs, I don't think the refugees would ever feel safe or comfortable there after what happened. I circled a few areas that I believe would be the best positions, for not only defensive reasons, but farming as well. This one here," said Raoul as he pointed to one circle on the map, "I believe would prove the best. It is up on a hill, I have already talked to Numair about increasing the height of the hill. He said it would not be easy, but it is doable. There's ample farm land and there is a forest within a mile on the southern side for hunting, and while it is a large forest, it is not nearly thick enough for a raiding party to go unnoticed. You have a medium sized stream that runs through the valley. I had Numair working on figuring out the source, he said it came from a small mountain about 2 miles away, but he was able to determine there is a fresh spring that flows directly under where the camp would go. Meaning you would have your own fresh water supply that is unable to be sullied by the enemy. Kel," Lord Raoul looked at her seriously, "I am doing everything I can to make sure another Haven doesn't happen. While I don't think they will come and try to take the children again, I am worried that they will come for retribution. No King, even the Maggot, will let you taking away a major part of his war plan just slip by unnoticed. Having you in this location will also place you about 3 miles closer to Steadfast. That way reinforcements can arrive faster if need be. I wish we could move you closer to one of the other forts, but we just can't leave that land for the Scanrans to take over. It would leave too large of a gap in our defenses. If anyone can understand that, I know it's you. I did train you after all." He ended with a smirk.

"I understand my Lord," replied Kel, "If I could please borrow your maps to look at the supposed sights and I will get back to you by tomorrow."

Raoul replied with a nod.

"Just looking now I think you may be right about the best location, but I will feel better going over it thoroughly on my own as well. I know you worry my Lord, but you forget, I don't take threats lying down." Kel finished with a grin as she scooped the maps up and left the room. Before the Sergeants could depart as well, Raoul continued.

"I expect you gentlemen to get along," Raoul started, setting them both with an intense gaze. "I also expect for you both to watch out for her. That girl gets herself into more trouble then she would ever admit to. Dom I know you will look out for her, but you Sargent Atticus, do I have your word as well? You see, as I'm sure you know, Kel was my squire. And I have come to look on her as my adopted daughter of sorts, not that this should be mentioned to her. I want what is best for her, I want her safe, but I also know that she is an invaluable commander in this war and in the future as well. That girl was born to be a leader, but I will make sure she is as safe as possible."

"Understood my Lord," was the unanimous reply.

"That is why I chose you Sergeant Atticus," Raoul stated, chuckling at the surprised look on his face. "Yes, I chose you. I demanded to be in charge of picking out the new squads for Kel. I know her best and Wyldon owed me for not keeping a better eye on her. While you honestly were not the most qualified, yes, you have a very good record and wonderful strategical mind from what I can see. There were others that would have been better on merit alone, but Kel does not deal well with people that think themselves above others. From the reviews I read, I think you will have the best chance of getting along while keeping everyone safe. There were countless commanders that praised your unselfish acts, not only for those better then you, but also those most would view under them. Don't make me regret my decision Sergeant."

Dom finally left that meeting with a new light on Sergeant Atticus. No, he still wasn't the biggest fan, but he didn't want to knock his teeth in anymore either. That was probably Lord Raoul's plan by making him stay after Kel left, but he sure as hell was still going to keep an eye on him. Something just wasn't right, but he still had no idea what it was.


	4. Chapter 4

So to clear up when I said Third Company, I only meant Dom's squad was going. I'm really not sure about this chapter, it was more of a transition chapter to help me get it going in the direction I want. Hope you guys still enjoy it though.

Chapter 4

A few weeks later saw Kel at the sight her Lord suggested. He was, as usual, right for the best location. They were able to scavenge what they could from Haven and use it for the new refugee camp that they decided to call New Hope; Kel and all the refugees found the name very fitting. Numair was able to raise the hill up an additional 50ft, so now it was about 70ft above the valley floor. The hill wasn't quite as steep as she would like though. Kel demanded forty foot high walls with a ten foot mote directly against the walls. They were able to rig the mote so the spring fed into it and had a channel running out of it so there was no stagnant water. The living area was roughly half a square mile. She knew that being in the Crowns favor she would be able to get most of what she wanted, and she was using it. She ordered the walls to be just short of a 90 degree angle with the stones that Numair called in again like he had for Haven. Kel made him place them so they would be as flat a surface as possible. She even made him move a few, and while she felt slightly guilty about it, she knew what she wanted done. She had him put hiding places in the stones for the children, only she, Neal, Tobe, and Dom were privy to their locations. Once the stones were placed she had men scale the walls with scaffolds and fill in any cracks with mortar. That way if the Maggot did manage to somehow bring the killing machines back they would have nothing to grip onto and it would be too high to just jump. They even made the drawbridge almost seamless. And designed a stone slab to slam down on the outside of the drawbridge when it was up in emergencies. The normal portcullis was on the inside of the drawbridge so it could remain down while the drawbridge was let out. They were finally starting on the buildings inside the camp. Now that there was a solid wall around them they all felt a lot safer, and Kel could send word to Lord Wyldon to have the farmers come to start get the fields ready for winter. She already had them come a week earlier to harvest what crops they could from Haven, which was a little over a mile away, but had them return when the job was done for their safety. Kel's thought were interrupted by the feeling of a presence beside her.

"Well, I must say Lady Kel, you do have an eye for defenses," Atticus said after he let out a small whistle of appreciation. "I will not envy the fools trying to get into here one bit."

"That is the point Sergeant Atticus, I am trying to make this look as unappealing as possible," she said with a smirk.

"Please Lady Kel, just call me Atticus. That's what my friends call me and we'll be stationed with each other for a while, so I'm hoping you would be a friend as well."

"Very well Atticus," Kel tested out. It felt strange, but oddly comforting to say his name without any titles attached to it. Kel glanced at him from the corner of her eyes only find him staring at her with a big smile on his face. It was a charming smile and it was apparently just for her. Somehow that made her want to smile back, but she remained Yamani calm. It would not be good to allow Atticus to know his smile actually affected her in any way. With that she walked away to try and weasel her way into helping to build.

Another week had passed and Kel was finally sitting down to lunch in the newly built mess hall. She was excited that in a few more days she would be able to send word to Lord Wyldon to send the rest of the refugees back. The only thing to finish building was headquarters, which Kel insisted wait till last. She was perfectly fine sleeping on a bed role in her tent. She just wanted her people home. Kel was interrupted from her thoughts as Neal plopped down beside her.

"Why do we have to work so fast, the Stump is fine with keeping them for longer. I can't even tell you how many people I've had to heal from not paying attention and breaking their damn finger with a hammer. 'But we're in a hurry,' they say or 'Lady Kel said it must be done as soon as possible.' Blithering idiots the lot of them I say," he protested quietly. Wouldn't do for those 'blithering idiots' to hear him.

"Neal," started Kel, "You know as well as I that the refugees are a very large strain on Lord Wyldon. They don't all fit into Mastaff, so he is having even more men working rounds in order to protect them from any attacks. It's not safe and you know it. Now quit your grumbling and eat your vegetables. You need them seeing as you've been healing so many people."

Neal started to slowly pick at his vegetables as Dom came and joined them at the table. He also sat down with a huff, and Kel noticed he had a lovely bandage on half his fingers and hand.

"So is Dom one of those 'blithering idiots' you were referring to Neal?" questioned Kel.

Neal looked up with a gulp as he saw the look in his dear cousin's eyes. He could already see some horrible prank coming to mind in them. This was not going to end well for him. So, he decided the best thing to do was….dig himself deeper of course.

"My dear cousin is always a blithering idiot Kel. I thought you of all people would have realized that by now. What with his limited vocabulary and horrible writing skills, I mean, have you read some of his reports. Oh and those horrible pranks he comes up with, I think Meech could have come up with better ones."

"Well, dear cousin. I'll just have to show you how original my pranks can be. Don't you agree Kel?" Dom asked with a big smile.

"Oh no," said Kel, "I'm staying far out of this one. In fact, you boys enjoy your lunch, I have better things to do then listen to the two of you bicker like an old married couple."

With that Kel got up and left the mess hall. Shaking her head at their antics as she went.

"So now that she is gone Neal, I have something to talk to you about," Dam said quietly, not wanting to be over heard. "I don't like that Sergeant Atticus, something about him just doesn't seem right. I don't know what it is, but something is just, just off."

"The only thing that is 'off' about him Dom, is that he is shamelessly flirting with our Kel. Which I honestly don't see any problem with. He's a nice man, he treats everyone well. She deserves to be happy. Unless you want her to remain alone for the rest of her days?" he finished with raised eyebrows.

Neal was paying attention while he spoke, though if he told anyone that they would never believe him. For some reason they all forget how observant he can be when needed. And what he observed was Dom's expression getting tighter and tighter as he spoke. Neal wouldn't say it to anyone, but he suspected that Dom and Kel had feelings for each other, and while he wasn't thrilled by the prospect, he thought they were a good match. Sadly, those two were so dense they would probably never figure it out, and he would rather Kel with Dom, then she would really be family, then Atticus. It sounds like he is going to have to start getting involved.

"Or is it that you would rather be flirting with her Dom?" he quickly finished and rushed out of the mess hall. Let the races begin he thought.

As Neal left the mess hall Dom sat there in thought. He wasn't sure how he felt about Kel. Yes she was a dear friend of his, but did he really feel like that? When he thought of her he didn't get the same feeling as when he chased after the court girls. That was just for fun, some secret kisses passed in the shadows, but nothing more than an adrenalin rush. Thinking of Kel, he felt a deep pull in his chest, one he certainly hasn't felt before or since meeting Kel. He knew he would actively seek her out as he enjoyed her company, even for pointless conversation. She always had good advice, or was willing to listen to others. He would feel a deep longing to be near her when he would think of her or see her across the distance, but what it meant he had no idea. Even though Dom was older, he had no ideas in the way of actual love. He needed advice, and getting it from his meathead cousin wasn't it, if his past comment was anything to go by, but who to ask. He would just have to write to Raoul, he was in love with Buri, surely he could give him sound advice. And if he didn't hear back from him soon, they would all just be going for the wedding in a few weeks anyways. With his thoughts done for now, he went off to his barracks to write a letter to Lord Raoul, hopefully he could help him figure out what his feelings meant. Now Dom just had to hope Lord Raoul didn't figure out he was talking about Kel, because he would surely kill him if he did.

So yeah, I'm making Dom sound dumb, but the man has really never dealt with real romance that we know of at least. So to have true feelings for someone is something new to him and while yeah, I'm sure he does know what it means, he wants to make sure before possibly ruining a friendship if he speaks up and figures out he was wrong.

Please review!


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry it's been a bit since I updated. Life got a little busier since my kids are out of school for the summer now. So I gave you guys an extra-long chapter. Thank you guys for the reviews and critiques. They are much appreciated so keep them coming! I love hearing that you guys are enjoying this.

So yeah I don't own any of Tamora Peirce's stories or characters, it's a sad world I live in.

Chapter 5

A few days later Lord Raoul sat in his office going over his correspondences, when he came across a letter he was not expecting from Dom. Wondering what it could be about Raoul opened it up, and started grinning stupidly as he read it.

'It sounds like Dom is finally in love,' he thought while laughing to himself. 'And of course the man has no idea. Here I thought he was intelligent. Well I'll just have to let him know he's being dense and to go after the poor girl, whoever she is.' With that he started his reply, he couldn't wait to tell Buri about this.

With those thoughts finished he wrote a hasty reply of, 'Go get your girl!'

Back at New Hope Kel was finally putting the finishing touches on her room in headquarters. While she didn't want to sound ungrateful of her previous one, this headquarters was a serious step up from the last one. They built it 3 stories high. The first floor was delegated to offices and a common room, the second floor was for all the sergeants and fellow knights, and the third floor, oh the glorious third floor, was just for her, well her and Tobe. She had her own sitting room and 4 bedrooms. A large bedroom for her, with a gloriously large bed to go with it, a room for Tobe, which Kel had finally convinced him to use, saying the builders went through all that trouble to make him his own room, so he should actually use it, and two guest rooms. But the greatest room, she thought, was her own private bathing room. It was a surprise for her, the men got together with Numair and were able to create a device to force water up pipes from the spring that collected in a huge vat in the bathing room. All she had to do was light the wood stove that the vat sat on top of to heat up the water, then turn a little knob to empty it into the wooden tub. This way she could use the water for other things as well and not worry about it all getting contaminated. They were also smart enough to have the tub with a built in pipe to empty it, so Kel will not have to worry about carrying ten buckets of dirty water down three flights of stairs. That was Kel's new paradise for the time being. Kel was distracted from her lovely thoughts by a knock on her door.

"Kel," Neal whispered. "Kel let me in!" Kel rushed to the door to let Neal in, hoping nothing serious was wrong. She opened the door for Neal to burst in and quickly turn around and slam the door shut.

"What in the goddess is wrong with you Neal?"

"It's Dom, Kel. I might have said something to him the other day that, maybe, I shouldn't have, and now he is trying to get me back." he whispered with a hint of panic in his voice, as though the walls had ears.

"What did you say to him Nealan?" Kel said with the tone of a scolding mother. Neal looked up sharply at that tone. He knew if he wanted his plan to work he needed to tell her, but he didn't think about the repercussions from Kel.

"Well, Kel, you see…" he stumbled, "Dom was complaining about Sergeant Atticus, saying something was off about him."

"That's ridiculous," Kel cut him off. "That man doesn't have a bad bone in his body."

"I know, that's what I said. I told him the only thing he thought was off about Atticus was that he was shamelessly flirting with you and that he was just jealous because he wanted to be the one doing it." Neal stopped with that, waiting tensely for the reaction he was expecting shortly. 'And there it comes' he thought. Sure enough Kel's face started change from her normal tan to pink then to red, which then started traveling down her neck. That was his queue to bolt out the door. No sooner than him getting halfway down the stairs did he hear Kel yelling and the door slamming open.

"Get back hear Nealan!" she bellowed. "I'm going to teach you a thing or two about what you should or should not say to people."

Luckily for Neal, he had the Queenscove horse blood running through his veins, because while Kel was fast, she wasn't near as fast as him. So the rest of the fort got to watch their dear commander running after her best friend shouting threats about what she was going to do to him on the training courts once she caught him. Lucky for Neal, he was eventually able to find a hiding spot, sadly for him though, he knew he would be getting a rude wakeup call in the morning and long hours on the practice courts tomorrow. It would be worth it though if those two idiots ended up together.

The next day when the currier arrived with all the letters and reports Dom received his reply from Lord Raoul. After shutting himself in his new room in headquarters he opened his letter. Even though it was one short line he read it probably ten times.

'He's right, I've wasted enough time, and I'm not wasting anymore. I was a damn idiot for not realizing it earlier, and even more of an idiot for needing Meathead to point it out,' thought Dom.

With his thoughts complete Dom went to go find his prize, though he would never let Kel hear him call her that. He shuddered at the thought of what she would say to him.

He walked outside into the bright sunshine. It was a hot summer day, even for this far north. Dom held his hand above his eyes to block the sun as he looked around for Kel. All he saw were the sweaty men on duty trying not to die from heat stroke in all their gear and those that were not on duty or doing their daily chores trying to find shelter in what little shade they could find. And while he did not find Kel, he did find one Sergeant Atticus walking around near the gate. Dom figured now was as god a time as any to go have a talk. As Dom made his way over, nodding to the men he passed. He looked straight ahead in his confidence. There was no way he was going to allow Sergeant Atticus to win his Kel, yes 'his' Kel.

"Sergeant Atticus, I was wondering if you have seen Lady Kel anywhere?" Dom started. He knew he was going to have to ease into this slowly so the men around them didn't think something was wrong. He could already feel a few curious glances. Unbeknownst to him many of the men were not blind to the two Sergeants obvious like of their Lady Knight, they had bets going on not only the final pairing, but every step in between, this included.

"Yes, Sergeant Domitan, she is out with the farmers helping plow fields so they are ready before the winter comes. And I must say it is a lovely sight," came the cheeky reply from Atticus as he turned to face Dom with a grin. Dom's jaw tightened at this. How dare this guy talk about his Kel like that?

"I know what you're trying to pull Sergeant," Dom said shortly, every fiber of his being tense, ready to knock his teeth in if he thought to disrespect Kel like that again. "She is mine even if she doesn't know it yet. I've known her for far longer then you have and cared for her for almost the same amount of time. So don't think you are just going to waltz in here and get her. She will be mine."

Atticus just chuckled at this, staring right into Dom's eyes. "What I find interesting Sergeant, is that you haven't acted before now. If you've had these feelings for as long as you say you have, why is she not yours already? Hmm, let's think. Is it that you were too cowardly to go to her, or was it that you did go to her and she rejected you? No, Kel needs a real man, someone that will truly be able to please her. I can already imagine how she will sound in bed, oh the noises I will get her to make," he whispered to Dom as he got closer and closer to him. "It will be divine," he finished with a hiss.

Dom couldn't take it anymore. Faster than Atticus could comprehend Dom cocked his arm back and slammed his fist into Atticus' face. With that Dom ran at Atticus and tackled him to the ground, dirt billowing around them. Already men were around them collecting bets on who would win. But, the two men were oblivious to it all.

"How dare you talk about her like that!" Dom growled as he straddled Atticus to pin him down. Repeated punching him in the face, ribs, or whatever was available. "You don't ever talk about her like that!" Atticus was not going to be giving up without a fight, he finally flipped Dom over to get his own shots in.

"I will win her," muttered Atticus. "You didn't take notice of her till there was someone else interested. You don't deserve her!"

This went on for a few more minutes with the two rolling in the dirt, getting shots in when they could before the much talked about Lady Knight came in from field duty to see a mass of men taking bets around two idiots fighting in the dirt. Kel just shook her head and went to get a bucket of water, figuring the heat must have gotten to two of the soldiers, so she would help them cool off. The men around her easily moved out of her way once they noticed Kel. They knew that look in Lady Kel's eyes, piercing hazel with a hint of wrath for whoever was disrupting her fort, and no one wanted to get caught in that mess. Not to mention that is the very women the two sergeants are fighting over. So there stood Kel, finally getting to the front to see who was fighting. She didn't know to be shocked or angry when she realized it was Dom and Atticus rolling on the ground like teenagers. Both men were putting up a good fight, both with black eyes and bloodied lips, she is pretty sure Atticus is sporting a broken nose too. She decided to go with anger. With that thought complete she threw the bucket of water on the two men getting them to come to a complete stop and turn in her direction ready to continue their fight with whoever dared to throw the water, only to see one thoroughly pissed off Lady Knight. Both men visibly pail.

"My office. Now!" Kel said sternly. With that she turned on her heal, shoving the bucket into the hands of the nearest person and stomped away towards headquarters. Once the door slammed the crowd began to chuckle as they dispersed. You could hear the occasional "They're in for it now," or "Wait till Lady Kel is done with them". The two men dragged themselves off the now muddy ground and made their way towards their doom. Neither happy with the other or having to face the woman they wanted. They slowly hobbled their way into headquarters and to Kel's office. Dom was the first to walk in, he could clearly see the wrath and anger on Kel's face. Dom desperately wanted to slam the large wooden door in Atticus' face, but knew right now it would just get him in more trouble, so he left it open for the other sergeant to follow him in.

"Sit down boys, and I can call you boys, because after that display I can certainly say you are not men," Kel said with ice in her tone. "So, who would like to explain to me what in world that was about?" Kel waited patiently, but neither man was going to talk. Knowing that if they told Kel the real reason for the fight it would dash any chances of being with her. After a few minutes of silence Kel spoke again.

"No takers? Well if that's the case, you each have an extra guard shift a day for the next week and you can clear your name off any roster list other than latrine duty for the next week. Oh, and make sure you are working the same shifts for everything, maybe spending some extra time together will teach you to get along," Kel said with a scoff. "I expect this behavior out of the younger guys, not two of my sergeants. You are supposed to be examples for the younger men to follow, leaders in their eyes. How the hell will they think of you as leaders when they see you two fighting each other?"

Kel sat down with a huff while writing a note for Neal. When she was finished she held the folded paper out for one of them to take. "Here, take this to Neal and get looked over. He is only healing what's broken. You guys can suffer with the aches and pains of this fight till they subside on their own, maybe that will teach you not to do it again." Dom took the note and they walked out the door, neither looking forward to the next week.

The two men made their way across the courtyard to the infirmary. Doing their best to ignore the other as humanly possible, and to close their ears to all the whispers being said about them as they walked by. Dom slammed the door open, making Neal jump.

"What the hell happened to you?" Neal questioned his cousin before seeing Atticus come in behind him in even worse shape than Dom. Once he saw the two men standing together in that shape it didn't take long to connect the dots of what happened. Neal started smirking as Dom walked towards him holding out a note.

 _Heal only what's broken, and make sure they feel it._

 _Kel_

Oh, Neal was going to enjoy this, he thought as he rubbed his hands together. "Ok, well Dom you sit on that cot there," he pointed to one near the back of the infirmary, "I'll be there as soon as I heal Atticus here since his nose is still bleeding." With that he directed Atticus to a cot right by the door, out of hearing range from Dom. As Neal went over him he found a broken nose and a cracked rib, probably from getting taken to the ground if the mud on his was anything to go by. As he healed those none too gently he started talking to Atticus.

"So do you want to tell me what happened?" questioned Neal. Silence was his answer. "If I was to guess, it would have to do with our Lady Knight. I see how you look at her and talk to her, hell everyone does."

"He doesn't deserve her," Atticus got out through clenched teeth, having a broken nose fixed without magic to take away the pain was not pleasant. "He has known her for how long and just now is realizing how special she is. If she truly meant that much to him, he would have done something by now."

"I'm not saying Dom isn't stupid, trust me I think the guy is just as much of a meathead as he calls me, but sometimes it takes the fear of losing a person to see their true value," Neal spoke wisely.

"Fuck!" Atticus shouted as Neal moved his rib back into the correct position.

"And I hate to break it to you, but I'm on his side. You're a nice guy, and I like you, consider you a friend, but he's family, which means if this goes through all the way, Kel will be family. Can't pass that chance up, plus Kel and Dom have been beating around the bush with each other for ages." Neal shrugged his shoulders as he finished.

"I can understand where you're coming from Neal, but I'm not giving up that easy," Atticus muttered as he stood up to leave the infirmary. "Thanks for the healing." With that Atticus left the building and Neal turned his attention towards his stupid cousin. Neal knew this was going to be an interesting conversation. He could tell Dom was still seething from what happened. And when you combined that with the bloody and bruised face it was certainly a sight, Neal thought with a chuckle, as he made his way over. Thankfully they were the only ones in the building right now, because Neal could tell this was likely going to be a loud conversation.

"So," Neal started. "Did you finally realize I'm right dear cousin, and confess your undying love for our dear Kel yet?"

"Shut it Meathead, does it look like I have? No, I can't find Kel anywhere because she's out in the fields so I go to tell that asshole that I wasn't going to let him get in my way of Kel. You should have heard what he said about her!" Dom roared, his fists balling up in anger. Neal wasn't sure he wanted to know if his cousins' reaction was anything to go by. Yeah Dom liked to make a big deal about stupid stuff, but that usually meant an epic prank, not all out anger. No, to get him angry like this it was not going to be good.

"What did he say Dom?" Neal said softly, but with a hard tone to go along with it. Neal could see the look in Dom's eye, knew that someone was going to end up seriously injured, and based on what he said he may be helping Dom with the injuring.

"The bastard talked about her like she was a piece of meat. He, he was talking about her in bed Neal," sputtered Dom. "Saying the sounds he would get her to make! I couldn't let him say that stuff about her. I can't even stand that he has thoughts about her like that! Neal, we have to teach him a lesson, I will not let him go around saying and thinking stuff like that about the woman that I love for gods sake!"

Neal was so furious about the first part of what Dom said he didn't even register that Dom just confessed to loving Kel. "I can't believe that asshole came in here for me to heal him after he said that about Kel. He's lucky I didn't talk to you about this first or he would have left here more injured then he came in!" Neal said with anger coursing through his veins. "No we have to do something about Atticus, I like the guy, but not when he says that kind of stuff about my best friend. Let me heal you first, I'll even be nice and take away the pain even though I'm not supposed to. Go spread the word to the guys that Sergeant Atticus doesn't have Kel's best interest in mind, they'll think of their own damage. Then you and I will have a little meeting with Atticus. You're right, he can't get away with talking about her like that."

Neal watched as Dom got up to go start their scheming, when Neal finally registered that other half of what Dom had said. 'So the oaf finally realizes he loves Kel, took him long enough,' Neal thought with a shake of his head as his anger somewhat abated.

Hope you guys liked it! Please leave me a review!


	6. Chapter 6

So I just want to apologize for taking so long to update. I have had a crazy month, between my 2 children having their birthdays and party to go with it, they are almost 2 years apart, only missed it by 10 days lol. And then packing up and leaving to visit my mom with said children, did I mention my mother lives half a country away the day after my children's birthday party. Then there has been the adventures my mother has had planned and dealing with my young kids minus my husband and a grandma that doesn't know what the word discipline is. It's been very crazy to say the least. SO without further ado, sorry, and here is the next chapter.

Chapter 6

A few days later saw Dom and Neal hiding behind a building after dinner waiting for Atticus. It was time to teach the errant sergeant a lesson about what could be said of their Lady Knight. When Atticus emerged from the mess hall Neal walked around the building and threw is arm around Atticus' shoulder. Neal was good at this ploy. Bullshit, joke around, subtly guide this man where he wanted him to go. Which happened to be right where Dom was waiting for them. As soon as Neal and Atticus turned the corner Dom was there with his fist in Atticus' face, knocking him down in the process.

"Damn that felt good," muttered Dom.

"What the fuck is this Neal, I thought I was your friend," accused Atticus.

"Yes, you are," stated Neal with a hard grin and emerald eyes blazing. "You'll know that because when this little conversation is over I'm actually going to heal you. However, Dom decided to enlighten me with what you said about Kel. And I just can't sit back and let someone talk about my best friend, that's practically my sister, like that. You know how that goes. Hope you don't take it personally, because I sure as hell have."

Atticus gulped at that. He knew Neal was protective of Kel, hell, all the men were, especially those in the Own and the convicts. That was evidence enough by the amount of "accidents" he's been having the past few days and the glares to go along with them. He never thought Dom would actually repeat what he said about Kel, but he should have known better, they were the most protective ones of her. Atticus knew he had what was coming to him, and wasn't able to begrudge Neal for any of it, he would have done the same for one of his own sisters. With that Atticus stood up to await his beating, glad to at least know Neal would heal him.

Once Atticus stood back up the guys went to work. At least Atticus was smart enough not to fight back. Yeah, he protected himself, but realized fighting back would just make it worse. Neal and Dom made quick work of him. A few minutes, a busted lip, split eyebrow, and broken nose later and Dom was stalking off somewhere to get a drink while Neal knelt on the ground next to Atticus and started to heal him.

"Like I said Atticus, keep your mouth shut about Kel. If I find out you said anything even remotely like that again I won't be so nice as to convince Dom to just kick your ass a little, nor will I heal you afterwards. Also, you might want to put in for a transfer soon. You see most of the guys here side with Dom in this, and Dom has let it slip that you have been talking indecently about their Lady Knight. I'm sure you've already noticed an increase in accidents, oh and complaints about you to Kel, and they are just getting started. So if I were you I would forget about Kel and put in for that transfer before Kel transfers you herself and it goes on your record. Like I said, I still consider you a friend, but I won't allow you to talk about Kel like that. Good night Atticus, make sure to say goodbye before you leave," finished Neal as he walked away into the night.

"Well shit," Atticus grumbled to himself. 'I should go talk to her now before I convince myself not to. While I think Kel is a fine woman, I'm not going to risk my career over her when I don't even know if she is interested. I wish it wasn't that way, but so be it,' Atticus thought as he approached headquarters. He made his way up the stairs to the third floor, where he was sure Kel would be at this hour. He got to the top of Kel's staircase and knocked on the door.

"Just a minute," came the muffled reply. He waited for Kel to get to the door, already regretting what he was about to do, but seeing no other way around it. Kel opened the door to find Atticus standing there, she was surprised because he and Dom had both been avoiding her after their fight the other day.

"Atticus, did you need something?" she asked. "Please come in?"

"No, Lady Kel, I think I should stay out here. I would like to put in a formal request for transfer. New Hope just isn't a good fit for me. I wish it was, but," he left his sentence hanging. Kel wasn't going to mention the recent complaints about him, she honestly figured they had more to do with his fight with Dom than anything. The New Hopers were fiercely loyal to him after he helped rescue them from Scanra, but if Atticus wanted to leave and Lord Wyldon could replace him then who was she to deny him. She would miss him, but if that was what he wanted, then she couldn't say no.

"I see," Kel finally gots out. "If that's what you wish, I will send the request to Lord Wyldon, as long as there is someone to take your place I don't see why it would be a problem. We will have to wait for his reply to know for sure what the answer will be though. Goodnight Atticus." With that Kel closed her door and Atticus went down the stairs. He turned the corner to find Dom waiting for him.

"Don't worry, I'll be out of your way soon sergeant," said Atticus.

"Good." Was all he heard in reply as he made his way to his room.

A week had passed and Kel, Neal, and Dom and his squad were heading to Steadfast for the much awaited wedding of Lord Raoul and Buri. Atticus was also coming, but was only accompanying them so Lord Raoul could relieve him from his post at New Hope and give her a replacement sergeant. From what Kel understood he would be leaving the next day for his new post.

Neal was on pins and needles, wanting to get there as fast as possible to see his beloved Yuki. Honestly Kel was beginning to contemplate gagging him. If she heard any more about his Yamani rose or horrible poetry about her eyes and lips she was going to seriously consider murder. Looking at Dom it seemed as though he had come to the same conclusion. Thankfully at that moment they rounded the last bend in their trip to Steadfast and while the fort was still a few miles out, it did not stop Neal from galloping off on his horse to get there as fast as possible.

"Poor horse is going to go lame by the time he gets there at that rate," stated Dom.

"At least we don't have to listen to him go on about his dearest Yuki anymore. I was seriously thinking about leaving him in a ditch somewhere," Kel said with a smirk.

They all relaxed and enjoyed the rest of the trip to Steadfast. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, blue skies with fluffy white clouds spotting it here and there, the weather was perfect. It was finally cooling off now that it was late September. When they were about a half mile away from the fort they heard the horn call, which they responded with their own friendly code. Once they were inside the gates Kel jumped off her horse and was quickly swept into a bear hug by Raoul, which she returned with equal enthusiasm.

"Kel," boomed Lord Raoul as he lifted her up and spun her around, "I'm so glad you could make it."

"I don't know that I had much of a choice, My Lord, since you all but gave me direct orders that I had to be here," Kel smiled, happy to see her Lord in such a jovial mood. And since he was in such a good mood, Kel needed to start trying to get out of wearing a dress to the wedding.

"So My Lord, I know that Buri wanted me to bring a dress, but all my dresses were ruined with the fall of Haven," Kel said with exaggerated remorse, yes she was sad about what happened there, but she was not sad about being able to get out of wearing a dress. "So I don't have any dresses to wear my Lord."

"Not to worry Kel, Lalasa sent up a special dress just for the wedding. Told Buri she wouldn't let her Lady be at a wedding with the queen there and not be the best dressed, next to the bride of course."

'And there went all hope of getting out of that…..' thought Kel. And with that she started to follow Lord Raoul to the rooms she would have while there. She watched the men stop and wave at them when they walked by. Being on the front for so long, she knew most of them. It was always nice to see old faces. Once she got to her rooms Raoul turned to go, but not before the ominous message of "The queen and Buri would like to see you later today. I don't think there is much of a choice in the matter though," he laughed then walked out the door. That settled it. While she knew she didn't really have an excuse to not wear the dress Lalasa sent for her, once Buri and the Queen see her there will be no going back. Those two will have her hair and makeup done before she even knows what happened. And she is sure Yuki wouldn't be that far behind. As Kel finished unpacking her bags from the trip she heard a knock at the door. Kel swung the door open, expecting to find Yuki now that she had a chance to get away from Neal.

"Dom," Kel forces out.

"Kel, uh, hey. You… Don't look that happy to see me, should I go? I can go if you want me too," he stuttered.

Kel put a smile on her face, silently laughing at how awkward he sounds. "No, I was just expecting you to be Yuki is all, you merely took me by surprise."

"Oh, well sorry to disappoint you, but last I saw her, she and Neal were trying to hide in a shadowy corridor sucking each other's faces hoping no one noticed, and much to, I'm sure will be, Yuki's dismay since Neal could care less, most of the guys noticed," snickered Dom. "I did however, have a reason to come up here. I was wondering, well that is…" Dom stopped and took a deep breath, trying to not let his nerves get to him.

"Well, I wanted to know if…."

"Well if you wanted…."

"Ummm, if you want…."

"Dom just spit it out already!" urged Kel. Seriously, what could be so bad he couldn't even say it?

"Do you want to go to the wedding with me?!" Dom spoke so fast all she heard was go and me.

"What? I couldn't understand a thing you said Dom, really you would think the world is ending. Just take a deep breath and talk a lot slower."

Dom swallowed hard. This was a lot harder then he thought it was going to be. He took a deep breath. "Kel, would you go to the wedding with me tomorrow?" he finally got out. Kel froze. She didn't understand what he just asked. Was this as friends, was this something more? Her heart started to beat fast in her chest, she was amazed Dom had not commented on how loud it was, she was sure he could hear it.

"Yes, of course I'll go with you Dom, you're my friend," she forced out. Praying, hoping that he would correct her. Tell her it was something more. She was holding her breath waiting for him to say something, anything.

"Oh…." He started. "I was hoping that maybe, you would like to go as….not…my friend?" He looked at her with this boyish hope on his face and practically exuding from his body.

"I, I don't understand what you're asking Dom," Kel said as she furrowed her brow in frustration, not wanting to hope it meant what she thought. "If you don't want to go as friends, then what would we be going as?"

"Well, my date?" he questioned innocently. Kel could see the want and need in his eyes for her to say yes. She was sure it was mirroring her own expression at this moment.

"Yes, Dom," Kel said with happiness in her voice and the biggest grin imaginable on her face. "Yes, I would love to go with you to the wedding then."

"Yes?" Dom muttered. "She said yes." Kel was certain he must not realize she was still standing there. Dom froze suddenly, coming to that very realization, but instead of bolting he looked at her with the smile of a kid on Midwinter morning. He then rushed over to her and picked her up and spinning her around, all while still having that smile on his face. Kel couldn't help but giggle at his antics. When he finally put Kel down Dom realized what he was doing. Figuring he already went this far, why not a little farther. With that he stood still and gazed into Kel's eyes. Time stood still for both of them. Each mirroring the others thoughts of 'is this actually happening?' Kel moved her hands from his shoulders, where she had them from being spun around silly, to his neck. They slowly inch towards each other, Dom moved his hands to caress the small of her back and neck, trying to guide her as close as humanly possible. Once Dom figured the only way to be closer to her was being naked, which he had no problem with, he touched his lips ever so gently against Kel's, afraid that she might disappear at any moment. That she would stop him from something he had desired for so long. But, he was coming to realize that Kel had no intention what so ever of stopping him. In fact, Kel deepened the kiss, she began to take it from a gentle touch of lips to a passion filled exchange.

Kel intensified the kiss and moved her hands from his neck up to his hair. Gently grasping and pulling at it. Only spurring Dom on more. Trying to push themselves even closer together even though it was not possible. As Dom nipped at her bottom lip, Kel let out a small moan, so quiet that he almost missed it, but no, he would never miss a single sound she uttered, especially not in a situation like this. Dom slowly backed Kel up until her back hit the wall, not that either of them even noticed. She was too lost in the feel of Dom's lips on hers, his hands on her body, the feeling of him surrounding her, the feelings were consuming her, and she was finding it very hard to resist. And Dom was having a very similar reaction. Every little breathy moan Kel let out was music to his ears, and he couldn't get enough of them.

"Ahem!" They froze and broke apart like they weren't just consumed in each other a millisecond before.

"My, My Lord," Kel finally managed to get out. "I'm sorry, we didn't see you there. Did you need something?"

"I think the whole Scanran army could have passed by and you guys wouldn't have noticed," muttered Raoul under his breath, he cleared his throat. "I was just seeing if you wanted to join me for a little get together later tonight. I thought a small party like we used to have during Midwinter would be fun. And on that note. Sergeant Domitan, would you please join me in my office." He finished and walked away, not even waiting for Dom.

Dom gave an audible gulp. He knew this was going to happen eventually, he just didn't think it would be so soon. "Kel, if he kills me, I just want you to know that was the most amazing kiss I have ever had in my entire life," Dom mumbled as he leaned in to take another kiss. This one however, did not escalate as the first one did. It was quick and gentle as he quickly turned and walked out of the room to face Lord Raoul. Neither of them was sure what the outcome was going to be. They both knew Lord Raoul looked at Kel as a daughter. Either he would approve and be ecstatic, or he would disapprove and they would be burying Dom tonight.


	7. Chapter 7

OK so I just want to start out with an, I'M SORRY! Life threw me a huge curve ball this past fall however. When I started school I found out I accidently signed up for an 8 week online Anatomy and Physiology I class, which was hard enough, but throw in that my husband was working 3 jobs, I got sick like couldn't get out of bed for 3 days sick, our basement flooded with over a foot of water and I than had to pack up an entire house practically by myself and move in 2 weeks' time, my husband did help with the moving day, then unpack an entire house practically by myself while navigating around 2 small children and taking this stupid 8 week class that most people fail taking the normal amount of time, while taking 3 other classes, one of which was college algebra, I suck at math. It was hectic, but I am happy to say I did pass with a C, I was actually only 1 point, yes 1 point away from a B, but no the teacher wouldn't budge. I was not very happy about that. Needless to say when I signed up for A&P II I triple checked to make sure it was the 15 week class and not the 8 week class. Than after I was done with that the very next week my daughter ended up in the hospital with a very bad infection and then a viral infection on top of it, she's little, so it's still an actual job when your kids in the hospital, including holding her down to force meds down her throat, or try to bribe her to eat food. Don't even get me started on the whole IV thing, pray if you have or ever do have small kids that they never have to have an IV, especially for an extended time, pray people. Even a day I think would have been fine, but by day 5, how many we were there, plus they had to redo the IV once, when she was not zombie child. It was bad. So after she was finally better I got sick from all the lovely germiness I was just enveloped by for the past week and got tonsillitis, which knocked me out for over a week, I swear I just need to get the damn things out, then it was thanksgiving. Then I had to start getting ready for finals than we had our 20 Christmas's to attend. Then I had both kids home from school. And while I adore you all. I just cannot write anything good while listening to my 2 children bicker back and forth over this and that for 20 mins before decided that it really didn't matter after all and we can play now just for it to happen after another 10 min. Don't get me wrong, at the beginning of winter break they got along great, but being trapped in a house during winter with your sibling can do that. So now that my oldest is back in school and you have a few weeks till you lose me, because you will lose me as I am taking 18 credit hours this semester with 3 very hard classes. So I am going to attempt to finish this story for everyone. And once I finish it, if I still have time, go back and fix all my mistakes, which I noticed after I just went back and reread it to get reacquainted with everything that I had set up so far. So with all my excuses given, please forgive me! And I'll try to get this done for you guys. You have all been very patient. And for my fan that pointed out my constant changing of past and present tense, I noticed when I went back and read threw it, it drove me crazy too. I try so hard not to do that, but sometimes I get caught up in what I'm writing and even when I reread my stuff I don't notice it. I'm sorry and I'm trying to keep a better eye on it, thank you for pointing it out!

Still don't own any of this, if I did, I would not be stuck in college lol

Kel was making her way to see Buri and the Queen, figuring that she should get the dress fitting out of the way. 'That and if Lord Roaul was still occupied with killing Dom, than he did not have the chance to go tell them about what he saw her and Dom doing,' Kel thought shaking her head with a chuckle. 'Those people are bigger gossips then all the court ladies combined. Not that I would ever say it where they could hear it.'

Walking down the hallway she saw Neal and Yuki taking a stroll hand in hand. Before, she would have thought of some way to tease them, but now she only paused in her steps and wondered if she and Dom would look like that. So happy, so content to be in each other's presence. Apparently she paused for too long, because Neal and Yuki were upon her and trying to have a conversation with her.

"Kel…."said Neal.

"Kel, is anyone home?" he tried again. This time bringing his hand up and waving his hand in front of her face.

"Nealan, what in the world are you doing?" Kel demanded as she pulled her head back.

Yuki responded before her betrothed said something foolish. "Kel, we were trying to talk to you for a full minute, but got no response. Are you feeling ok?" Those that knew her would see the slight concern in her face and hear it in her tone.

Kel gave them a small smile. "Yes, I'm fine. I was just pondering on a way to get out of wearing this dress. Sadly, I couldn't come up with anything. In fact, I'm on my way there now if you would like to join me Yuki? I think Neal has stolen enough of your time for now."

Yuki looked at Kel, she knew it was unlike Kel to outright demand her time when she had been away from Neal for so long. Then they come across her and she isn't paying attention to anything around her. That is not something Keladry of Mindelan does. Something is going on and Kel wanted to tell her without Neal around. Yuki could hear Neal start to protest…

"Actually Kel…" Neal Begins.

"I think that would be a wonderful idea," Yuki cuts him off, while sending him a look that says go with it or else.

"Yeah," Neal shakes his head a little too enthusiastically, earning him a hidden glare. "I needed to go, go….unpack my things anyways. You ladies have a good time. Kel, don't kill anyone, I know how much you love dresses. My dearest, if I can have a word for just one second before you depart my pitiful existence for the untimely future."

Kel walked on ahead, figuring they were going to make out for the next 5 minutes. Which she did not particularly want to see.

"Yuki dear, would you mind telling me why I am giving up what precious little time I have with you to Kel at this precise moment? While I do understand she is one of your best friends, we were on our way to do something that was going to make my little best friend very, very happy!" Neal whispered frantically.

"Nealan," Yuki said sharply. "Something is obviously bothering her. Something, that if you _weren't_ thinking with your so called "little best friend" you would have heard her open invitation to me to go talk to her about, which as you know from Keladry does not happen all that often. Now, be a good boy, and maybe I'll treat you like one later." She finished with her head turned to the side slightly and raised eyebrows. With a kiss to his cheek, Yuki turned around and walked away to catch up with Kel, who was about 50 feet ahead of her. Neal finally broke out of his stupor once he saw Yuki catch up to Kel, and turned away to do just what his Yamani Rose told him to do, with a shit eating grin on his face the whole time, because you better believe he was going to be a good boy.

To say Dom was making his way slowly down the corridor would most likely be an understatement. In reality he was taking the smallest steps possible without looking like a complete fool and stopping to talk to anyone he possibly could. You know, just in case he was about to meet the Black God within the next hour or so, not at all to postpone actually seeing Lord Raoul. Sadly, all delay tactics had finally run out and he was now standing in front of the very door he wanted to run from. With a deep breath Dom lifted his hand and knocked on Lord Raoul's office door. Hoping against all odds that maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't be there.

"Come in." He heard 'Well there went that hope,' thought Dom as he walked into the room. Dom was looking at Lord Raoul, trying to gage his mood by his body language. 'And he could beat the Yamani Emperor in a staring contest right now, great. Now I have no earthly idea how this bloody thing is going to go. I think that man is taking too much pleasure out of this.'

"My Lord," Dom began, resisting the urge to pull at his collar as he could feel the sweat beginning to form. "You wanted to see me, sir."

"Yes, Sergeant Domitan. Shut the door and have a seat."

'Oh gods,' thought Dom. 'He used my FULL NAME AND TITLE! That man has never used those unless he is presenting me to someone or with something! This is bad! This is very, very bad! I am going to die tonight. I never even got to tell Kel how I felt. She needs to know that I love her. How the hell am I going to make it out of this room alive? He had me close the door, I talked to people, but I didn't tell anyone I was coming here. Only Kel knew, and she would never betray Lord Raoul! Even she knew I might be dying at this meeting!'

Meanwhile Raoul was just standing behind his desk, trying to hide a smile as he watched the fear slowly build in Dom's eyes as he had, what must have been a very interesting oh 5 or 6 minute, internal conversation in his head. Here Raoul thought _he_ was supposed to scare the shit out _him_ , apparently Dom was going to do _that_ all on his own.

'I better get this started before the poor boy keels over. Then Kel would never forgive me.'

"Domitan," Raoul started with a steely look and calm tone. "You have been under my command for many years. I have seen you grow from a boy, floundering around with no idea how to do, well just about anything to be frank, to a man. A man that I have taught to lead those around him, a man who may have doubt, but has learned not to show it, as he knows it effects those he commands. A man that while he would be hard to replace, Sergeant Domitan," Raoul continued looking right in his eyes and speaking with a tone colder than ice. "I would have no problem doing so after a very painful accident, where he would most likely never be found again, if anything foul were to happen to the girl that I view as my daughter. You know, as well as I do, that I have more than enough connections to make that easily happen. Do I make myself _abundantly_ clear Sergeant?"

"Y…Yes, yes, Sir. A…abundantly clear Sir," Dom managed to stutter out.

"Now before I finish here, I have a few questions for you Domitan?"

"Of course My Lord," replied Domitan as he watched Raoul move from where he was standing behind his desk to pacing behind him, out of his view. Dom knew it was to make him more nervous, since he was still sitting and it would have been rude of him to turn in his seat or stand up without being told to.

"Are you playing with Kel?"

"No, Sir," Dom wanted to say more, but he could tell at the moment yes and no was all he would get in until Raoul gave him any indication otherwise.

"Do you intend to treat Kel properly?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Not let your relationship get in the way of her being your commander?"

"No, Sir."

"Even when you disagree with her?"

"No, Sir." 'Though unlikely to happen,' thought Dom.

"How long have you had feeling for Kel?"

"I'm honestly not sure Sir."

Raoul nodded his head to that reply. His next question gave Dom pause.

"Was your personal letter to me a few weeks ago concerning Kel?"

After waiting a few seconds to reply Dom finally gave in. "Yes, Sir."

"One more question Sergeant," Raoul said as he came over to Dom and put his hand on his shoulder while leaning over him. "Are you the reason Sergeant Atticus put in for reassignment?"

"Well, you see My Lord," stammered Dom. 'Holy shit, what the hell am I going to tell him about _that_. Just by the way he asked I _know_ he found out I'm the reason. Come on Dom think damn it, think!' "Um…..I, um, he just, ah, wasn't getting along, ah….with, with…" 'With who Domitan, I can't say me!' "With some of the men! And he asked to leave. Couldn't, um…..couldn't take it I guess." Dom finished with a sigh of relief, thinking he got away with it.

"Oh really, Dom, because in my weekly letter that I get from Kel she wrote to me about how you were a complete, what was the word she used now, was it idiot, no," Raoul said as he watched Dom visibly flinch. "Was it a dolt, no, moron, no, oh yes, I remember, she skipped all the stupid ones and went right to dim-witted imbecile. I know she must have been really mad when she writes a letter and takes the time to figure out the best insult she can figure out in her fury. Anyways, back to the juicy part. Oh and don't worry, Sergeant Atticus was also a dim-witted imbecile. So I'm reading my letter and I come to a part about how she had to break up a fight between you and Sargent Atticus. Would you care to tell me what this fight was about Sergeant Domitan?"

Dom had to tread very carefully. Yes, Atticus said things he shouldn't of, but if Lord Raoul found out exactly what he said he would be dead by tomorrow. And while Dom may not like him because he wanted Kel, he knew Atticus was just trying to get a rise out of him, but overall he wasn't a bad guy.

"He said some things in regards to Kel, Sir," responded Dom. There short, sweet, and no lies. While he watched Lord Raoul walk in front of him to lean against his desk and cross his arms.

"Just so you know Sergeant, I asked the men from New Hope about it since Kel said neither of you would say a word." 'Oh shit,' thought Dom, 'this is not going to end well.' "From what I heard you and Atticus were arguing over who deserved Kel. Then he said something to you, which sadly no one else heard, and you snapped, took the man down. Whatever it was you had better done enough damage." He said with a stern look when Dom's head snapped up in surprise. "I know you Dom. It takes a lot to make you lose your cool. I realize you won't tell me what he said. All I got out of the men was that and then random things about him not having Kel's best interests in mind or being bad for her, or that he was being bad to the civilians which, I agree with Kel was probably more likely because he fought with you and they were spreading rumors since I know from his past posts that he is great with civilians. So as I said, you had better made sure it counted."

"So," Raoul said while clapping his hands and walking back around his desk to plop back into his seat. "Now that the fun part is done. I'm happy for you and Kel. It's about time you both found someone. So you have my full blessing for what it is worth. We all know Kel does as she pleases," he chuckled.

"Sir, I want you to know, that my intentions are true. I really, truly care for Kel," Dom stated while looking at Raoul. Hoping he didn't do screw anything up. "While I may have only realized the depth of my feelings for her, I've also realized that I've been a blind fool to those feelings for a long time. My hope is that _she_ doesn't realize I'm a fool too, and find someone better. My Lord."

"Very Good Dom. I believe we have covered all that we need to for now. Though I was serious about that first bit. Hurt her, you will die," said Raoul as he came around his desk shaking Dom's hand as they both walked towards the door to the office. "Have a good day Sergeant!" Raoul finished as he shoved Dom out the door and then slammed said door in Dom's face. All the while Dom stood there in a daze.

'I'm still alive' he thought. Dom even went so far as to start feeling different parts of his body. 'All the pieces are still there! And he approves! This is wonderful! Yeah he swore he would kill me if Kel so much as cried, but I'M STILL ALIVE!'

"I have to find Kel!"

Kel and Yuki were making their way down the corridor towards Buri and Raoul's rooms when Kel decided it was finally time to break the silence.

"Sergeant Masbolle kissed me," Kel spoke quickly in Yamani, hoping that with the foreign language plus Dom's last name any passerby's would not know who or what they were talking about. Yuki however, was all ears, as her head quickly snapped up to look at Kel.

"He kissed you, was there anything else to go with this kiss?" Yuki asked as she covered her lower face with her shukusen.

"Yes, but not _that_ ….He asked me to go to the wedding with him. I tried to play it as going as friends, to see what he would say, but he said he wanted to go as my date." At that point Kel had stopped walking and was just standing there talking with Yuki. "I guess he thought I would say no, because he just stood there and kept muttering 'she said yes'. Then he just came into my room and, and picked me up, and spun me around….." Kel said with a chuckle and dreamy look in her eyes as Yuki hid a small smile behind her shukusen. "Then…..then, well, you know, he, well, he kissed me!" she whispered

Yuki held back the laugh that wanted to escape.

"Was it at least a good kiss Keladry?"

With that Kel snapped her head to her friend, saw the laughter in her eyes, and started her own laughter.

"Yes, Yuki, it was a very, _very_ good kiss. Come on, let us get this over with. You know I don't mind wearing dresses, but I just hate wearing them at impractical times, and this is an impractical time. What if we were to be attacked? I would never be able to properly defend the fort."


	8. Chapter 8

"Kel are you in there?" asked Dom as he knocked on her door again with still no response. While Kel didn't answer his cousin did pop his head out of the room from next door.

"Dom? What are you doing? She and Yuki went to go see Buri about Kel's dress. They should be back in a little bit. Did you need something?" asked Neal.

"I just got done with a very interesting conversation with Lord Raoul," Dom said as he shoved past Neal to get into his room and sat on his bed. Neal took this as a sign they were going to be in there for a bit and shut his door then went to sit in the only other chair at the desk that was provided for him.

"Ok, you got me. What was it about?"

"Let me start from the beginning, Meathead. So I went to see Kel, because I finally talked myself into asking her to the wedding. Don't look at me like that, you knew it was going to happen sooner or later," said Dom as Neal had a shocked look on his face. "As I was saying, she said she would go with me because we are friends, and I said no, I would like to go as dates. She said yes, Neal! I was so shocked I just stood there talking to myself. I felt like an idiot."

"Well I could have told you that," Neal cut in.

"Not needed. So in my excitement, I went and picked her up in excitement, well…Then we kissed. I'll spare you the details," Dom said as he noticed the look on Neal's face.

"Thank you very much," muttered Neal, not wanting to listen to that about his pseudo sister.

Dom gave Neal a small nod. "Well….We happened to be interrupted by Lord Raoul."

"Oh gods and goddesses no!" said Neal as he bit his fist trying to hold back his laughter. "What happened, you have to tell me what happened?"

"I don't know if I want to tell you now Meathead. If you're just going to laugh at my suffering like that."

"What! No, I promise I won't laugh Dom, I won't. Just tell me. Please Dom, you have to tell me. Don't abandon your poor pitiful cousin like this!" Neal begged, knowing this was going to be a story worth hearing and repeating, but he wasn't telling Dom that part.

"Fine, I guess I'll tell you. He asked if we wanted to join him for a get together later that night, then he turned to me, used my full title Neal, the whole Sergeant Domitan, and told me to meet him in his office. Both Kel and I thought I was going to die. So I finally get down there, walk in, he reads me the riot act. Basically tells me if I so much as make Kel cry I will end up dead in a ditch somewhere, which is actually better than I expected since I thought he was going to kill me as soon as I walked into the room. He said and I quote, '…A man that while he would be hard to replace, Sergeant Domitan,' Dom said in his best Raoul impression, '…I would have no problem doing so after a very painful accident, where he would most likely never be found again, if anything foul were to happen to the girl that I view as my daughter.'"

Neal started cracking up at this point. He couldn't have out done Raoul even trying his best. He would have to thank the man later, but for now this was too funny. He listened as his cousin continued.

"Not that I have any intention of ever hurting Kel, my goal is to make her as humanly happy as possible, but just wait, it gets better. After his string of questions he asks me if I'm the cause for Sergeant Atticus's reassignment. Of course I tried to be evasive, but you know Raoul. While I figured he had asked a few of the men about it, what I didn't know is that he has a weekly personal correspondence with Kel. In this letter she told him all about the fight. I thought I was about to get my ass chewed out, but you'll never guess what he said to me."

By this point Neal was on the edge of his chair. He couldn't believe this story so far! Hell, he would have thought Dom had made half of it up if it didn't involve Kel and Raoul, but Neal knew Dom was hopelessly in love with her, and that Raoul was just as hopelessly protective of her.

"Goddess Dom just spit it out!" Neal said anxiously.

"He told me as serious as could be, that I had better done enough damage," Dom laughed.

"What!"

"Yeah, apparently that's what my expression said too, because he looked at me and said that he knew it took a lot to make me lose control. So that I had better made sure it counted," Dom finished shaking his head.

"Well I'll be…" Neal was saying as the door open and Yuki and Kel walked in. "Yuki, Kel, are you done with the dress fitting already?"

"Yes, after some teasing from Buri, I managed to get out of there with some dignity intact," said Kel. "So what have you guys been up to?"

"Oh just filling Neal in on my wonderful talk with Lord Raoul," proclaimed Dom. "By the way, would you like an escort to the dinner party tonight?"

Kel looked at Dom pointedly, though she should have guessed that he had told Neal, after all, she told Yuki.

"I would love one, Dom. So, how did it go, you are still breathing so it couldn't have been all that bad," she chuckled.

"Well instead of killing me now, he just promised to if I even _though_ t of doing anything wrong," said Dom in a dramatic tone. He then got up and walk over to Kel wrapping his arms around her waist and looked in her eyes. "Not that I plan on having any thoughts like that," he finished with a devilish smirk as he leaned down and gave her a deep kiss.

"Ahemm…You do realize there are still other people in the room," Neal said as Yuki slapped him with her shukusen. "Ow, what was that for, I'm just pointing out the obvious, it's called common curtesy."

"Nealan, remember what I said to you about being a good boy," Yuki said with a pointed stare. "This falls into that category. Let them have their moment, if it bothers you don't look."

With that Neal gave a loud gulp and turned the other way to look out his window, but he certainly wasn't going to risk upsetting his Yuki and not having his fun evening with her. It had been far too long and if she got mad at him it would be longer still. Making a fuss about Kel and Dom kissing was not worth losing _that_.

Later that night was Lord Raoul's dinner party and Kel was getting ready, which sadly for her meant wearing, she found out at her fitting, _one_ of the dresses Lalasa sent up for her. In all Lalasa sent her up 5 evening dresses, as well as a party dress that was meant to be worn for the wedding for the wedding, by order of Buri and the Queen. Dom was supposed to be there to escort her to the party in a few minutes. Honestly Kel was feeling nervous. This was really the first time Dom will be seeing her in a dress that she can recall. What would he think? The dress itself was beautiful, Lalasa would never make anything that wasn't. The dress was a wonderful deep red color that brought out her the specks of amber in her hazel eyes. The top was a narrow V cut that went down a little farther towards her cleavage then she would like, with lace trim to accent it. The sleeves were form fitting 3/4 of the way down with a lace trim sticking out of the edge. There was also a lace decal with a gold sash around her waist in order to accent it and bring attention to what little curves she did have. The dress was a piece of artwork if there ever was one. Kel thought she looked good, she just hoped Dom thought so too. Just as Kel was finishing putting her hair up, for she had allowed it to grow out some these past few months, she heard a knock on the door.

"Coming," she called.

When Kel opened the door, Dom forgot how to breathe. 'She's beautiful,' he thought. He had never seen a creature as stunning as she was in that moment. She looked like a goddess.

"Kel," he managed to get out after he stared at her for a minute. "You look divine."

Apparently he got it right, because Kel gave the biggest smile he had ever seen.

"Thank you Dom," Kel said as her cheeks turned pink with her blush. "Why don't you come in while I finish up?" She then stepped aside and motioned for him to come in and shut the door behind him. She give him a kiss on the cheek as she passed him on her way to the desk that was her makeshift make up stand.

He watched as she started to apply face powder and eye shadow. At first staring in wonder that she even had these things, but then he thought himself stupid. 'Of course she has them, she may be a knight, but she is still a woman that likes to be treated as such every now and then,' he thought. Storing that knowledge away for later. He was walking up behind her as he watched her about to put on lip rouge and reached out to stop her hand and she just turned to stare at him.

"Can I say something?" asked Dom as he stared at the red canister of lip rouge than back to Kel. "While I think you look beautiful both with and without makeup on, even lip rouge. I may have plans to steal you off into a curtained alcove or two. And with that particular shade of lip rouge it would be abundantly clear to everyone that I had done just that." Dom declared with a sexy smirk only he could pull off as he watched a faint blush appear on Kel's cheeks. What he didn't expect was for Kel to meet his possible bluff, he would still try after all, and raise him one.

She turned and looked him straight in the eye and said, "Well in that case I guess I should go with the clear rouge." Which she then pulled out and applied to her lips as she never took her eyes off him. He however, couldn't help but watch what her fingers were doing with her lips. He could feel the need to adjust himself in his pants growing by the seconds.

'Good gods how long does it take to put on lip rouge!' Dom thought as he watched after 5 seconds of torture. He couldn't take it anymore! He grabbed around her waist and the side of her face, kissing her like she was his life essence. He couldn't hold back either, he needed her. She was his crux. He bit and nipped, sucked and kissed. He could taste the honey and mint that was in the lip rouge, then the sweet flavor that was all Kel. He started to kiss up her jaw, panting and listening to her sweet gasps of pleasure. He knew they couldn't take this far, they were not established enough to do so and he did not want to hurt Kel and ruin any chance with her. Once he reached half way down her throat, he knew if he went further he wouldn't be able to stop himself, and started to make his way back up towards her lips. Finishing with deep passionate kisses that left them both breathless.

"Wow… Is it going to be like that every time you kiss me?" Kel asked Dom breathlessly.

"That's my goal," laughed Dom just as breathlessly, with a twinkle in his eye. "But we can always check whenever you want."

"Let's go you," proclaimed Kel as she fixed her hair and grabbed his hand dragging him out the door.

Kel was slightly nervous, other than Neal, Yuki, and Raoul she had not told anyone else about her and Dom. Well, she was sure Raoul told Buri and the Queen she wasn't 100% sure, but that still left a lot of her friends that were in the dark. She hadn't been in any relationship since Cleon and she honestly wasn't sure how any of the guys were going to take it. She knew they all viewed her with something akin to sisterly affection. Maybe not to the extent of Neal, but still. So, this would either go wonderfully or horridly. Kel was pulled from her worries by a knock on a door. Apparently they had arrived.

"Ah Kel, Dom, come in, come in!" said Lord Raoul exuberantly, excited to see them. "Only a few people are here so far. Sadly, Wyldon wouldn't come, nor could everyone I wanted to since some of the guys were on duty, but that's the life of a solder I suppose. Go get yourselves something to eat and drink, talk, have fun!"

"One thing Dom," Raoul called as Kel walked off to the buffet table to get finger foods to snack on.

"Yes sir," said Dom.

"At least make sure she talks to Buri before you steal her away. She certainly looks lovely tonight," Raoul smiled. "Really though, talk to Buri, that woman will never let me hear the end of it if you don't. And I'm not below using Kel to get back at you."

Dom laughed at his commander who was already afraid of his soon to be wife, but with good reason. "Don't worry, Sir. I plan on being a complete gentleman tonight. Our relationship is too new and Kel too inexperienced to try and rush anything. I love her, Sir," Dom said as he turned to look at Raoul. "I am not about to risk a relationship that I want to last for the rest of our lives just because I can't help acting like a horny teenage boy until she can let me know she is ready." Dom wanting to give Raoul reassurance that he didn't have to worry about him rushing Kel in that department.

"Well as someone that greatly cares for her I can say that makes me feel better. I really would have hated to train another sergeant," Raoul said in all seriousness as he turned and walked toward Buri, leaving Dom standing there a little paler when it hit him that that threat was even more real than he had initially thought. He saw Kel just finishing getting her food and went to grab drinks for the two of them and joined her.

"I thought I would grab you a drink my dear," Dom said.

Kel's head snapped up as she stared at him. "You haven't called me that before," she said with a smile. "It's nice."

"Keladry," Dom said as he looked into her eyes and setting their drinks down on the table by them. "Just because you don't always act like a typical court woman, does not mean that you are not one, nor that you would not like to be treated like one in some respects. Now I know if I started going around insisting you ride side saddle or couldn't lift a finger outside of needle point that you would probably have me murdered in my sleep, but using terms of endearment is just one of the many ways for me to remind you that you are a woman that means a great deal to me." He then wrapped an arm around her waist pulling her close and leaned down to kiss her forehead. He knew he had to stop before he said too much and scared her off.

Kel was in heaven at the moment. She finally found someone that viewed her as a woman, not just another one of the guys. And he was there, holding her. Kel roused herself out of her stupor and took a small step back from his hold to look at him.

"I know Dom. It just took me by surprise was all. Please, don't stop on my account. I personally love when you treat me like a lady. Well you are right about that within reason part, I probably would murder you in your sleep if you ever tried make me ride side saddle," Kel said with a chuckle. "Did you know I have Lalasa specially make my dresses that I plan to go riding in, yes I have one or two for the occasion, so wipe that look off your face, so that I can ride normally?"

"Well dear, that solves it. If we ever both get leave to…I don't know, somewhere not on the front line. You and I are going on a trail ride together that will include a picnic date. Thus, you would need to wear one of those wonderful dresses you mentioned." Dom teased.

"Alas, my Sergeant, the only way that would happen is by going back to Corus, because all of those dresses were destroyed when Haven was attacked. And while Lalasa did send me some new dresses, she did not send me any of those. I'm guessing she did not think I would be going for any horseback rides with a handsome King's Own Sergeant." She teased him back.

"That is sad news indeed." Dom said as he looked as sad as possible. Kel couldn't help it, he looked so cute she had to reach up and give him a kiss.

"Hey! What are you guys doing over there?!" Shouted Owen as he rushed over towards them, causing Kel and Dom to look up. "You can't man handle our Kel like that! Let go of her!"

"Owen stop this foolishness right now," said Kel sternly. "First of all I kissed him, so how in the world did he man handle me?"

"Well he…he," stuttered Owen.

"Second, Dom is my date for the night, I can interact with him in any way I please. And third, I know you care for me, but I am a grown woman who might I add, is older than you, that can still pummel you on the training yard. Do you honestly think I couldn't handle myself if I was actually being as you say "man handled"?"

Dom just stood back, watching as Owen was turning redder by the second. He could see the poor guy was feeling the ashamed of his actions. He was just trying to protect his friend, Dom had a feeling he was going to be experiencing a lot of that. He should at least save the poor guy.

"Dearest," said Dom softly as he put his arm on Kel's waist. "We both know that Owen was just looking out for you. He was in no way insinuating that the big bad Protector of the Small couldn't properly defend herself." Dom tried to hold back the snicker that was bubbling in his throat to go along with the smirk on his face.

Kel just gave an irritated groan and proclaimed, "I'm going to find company that isn't as insufferable as you two," as she stomped away.

Owen turned to Dom, "Thanks I owe you one. I thought she was about to drag me out to the practice courts while she was still in that dress."

"I wouldn't have allowed that," said Dom with a smile. "I like that dress way too much for her to ruin it on the practice courts."

Owen just laughed at him. "I am sorry though, I just saw you guys over here and freaked out. You know I like you Dom, just you're such a lady's man and well, yeah. Is this just a date, like Kel said? I mean you were kissing and throwing around names and stuff."

Dom looked at Owen. He knew he was just looking out for Kel, there was no ulterior motive behind his questioning, well he may gossip to Lord Wyldon, but nothing else. He knew being honest with Owen wouldn't harm any of his plans.

"Yes, tonight is technically just a date, but I am hoping that it is just the beginning of something much bigger to be honest."

"Oh," said Owen. "Well, I hope I didn't, you know, make her mad at you just now."

"Don't worry, she's used to me teasing her about being the Protector. She'll be fine, I'm going to go take her a drink now. Have a good night, maybe we'll see you later on," Dom said as he picked up their drinks and walked towards where Kel was with Neal and Yuki.

"Hey Meathead, Yuki. Mind if I cut in next to this marvelous creature?" Dom asked as he sent a smile to Kel. "Here's your drink Kel. How is every ones night so far?"

"We are just listening to Neal go on about the best way to heal battle wounds and prevent loss of limbs. Such interesting topics, I'm almost to the point of asking him to start reciting his poetry." Kel chuckled.

"Kel, you know you're not allowed to talk about that in front of Yuki!" Neal said frantically. Kel just stuck her tongue out at Neal as Dom laughed at the antics of the two.

"Kel, Lord Raoul mentioned that Buri wanted to see you," Dom mentioned, noticing more people had begun to show up. He saw people from the Own as well as some Knights that he knew.

"Oh yes, that would be nice, let's go find Buri," said Kel happily. Other than the little glitch with Owen, the night was going well so far. "Well talk to you guys later." They turned around to scan the room and quickly spotted Buri sitting with Lord Raoul and the Queen over by the small window provided for the room, this was a fort after all. It looked as though they were having a rather intense conversation as they walked up to them.

"…It just isn't done Raoul," they heard the Queen say.

"Since when have I cared about traditions. It's my wedding and if I damn well want it done that way and Buri doesn't care, which she doesn't, she actually likes my idea, than I'm going to do it!" Raoul proclaimed rather loudly.

"Well you don't have to get all grouchy at me, you ask me what I thought and I told you. If you were so adamant about it in the first place why in the world did you even ask me?" they heard the queen respond.

At this point Kel and Dom felt like they were being rude and Dom cleared his throat to get their attention. "Your Majesty," he said with a bow as Kel curtsied in her dress, "Buri, Lord Raoul, we were just coming over to say hello. However, you seem to be in a rather heated discussion so we shall leave you to it." The two of the turned to leave.

"Actually," called Lord Raoul. "One of you happen to be the subject of the matter." Causing them both to visibly flinch and pause in their movements, both wondering who the unlucky sacrifice would be. "Please sit down, there was something that I've been meaning to ask. Now Kel," Dom visibly relaxed, but the death grip Kel had on his hand meant she had not. "I want you to be my so called "best woman" for the wedding. Now, I know you want to say no and I won't accept that. I will give you an order if I have to." Raoul said, giving her a steely look, meaning every word he said, and taking perverse pleasure in every second of it.

Kel just shook her head as she looked at the ground. She finally looked up at Lord Raoul with a smirk on her face. "Well since I obviously don't have much of a choice, all I can say is you are a bad man, my Lord." Lord Raoul and Buri started laughing and didn't stop for quite some time.

Later that night Dom was walking Kel back to her room as they were passing those curtained alcoves he had mentioned earlier in her room. Kel still was rambling on about how insane Lord Raoul was by having a female be his best man. Dom knew that if he didn't strike now, he wouldn't be able to. They were running out of alcoves!

Kel was suddenly thrown out of her ramblings by Dom's arm around her waist and then him quickly pulling her around an unexpected corner, in the straight hallway, into darkness as she heard the sound of fabric flapping closed and the feeling of a hard wall against her back and an even harder man against her front if that was even possible.

She was breathing fast as she whispered, "Dom what are you doing?"

"I'm pretty sure I told you I was going to steal you off into an alcove," Dom said softly as he leaned in close to her ear. "Though if you wish, I can take you back to your room."

"Dom, just shut up," Kel said as she closed the small space between their lips. Her hands wrapped their way around his neck. She could feel every part of him against her, loving every second of it. When she gently bit at his lower lip she heard Dom give off a low groan, making her stomach tighten. Dom's hands were moving along her sides and her back, she could tell he was resisting the urge to move them to other places, places she was thinking of him touching. Maybe if she teased him some he would move his hand a little lower? Kel bit his lip some more, eliciting some more of that delightful sound from him, but still, his hands stayed in their general vicinity. Deciding it was time to turn up the heat a bit, she traveled from his lips giving light openmouthed and nipping kisses up his jaw until she reach his ear. She could feel his hand slowly making its way lower and lower. His breathing was also getting faster with light sounds mixed in every now and then. She was going to make sure this man stopped thinking of her as a scared little girl. With that she took his ear lobe in her mouth and lightly bit and then sucked on it. She heard Dom take a sharp breath as his one hand finally reached down and grabbed her ass just she had been wanting and the other came up to hold the back of her neck.

"Gods Kel," Dom moaned. This woman was trying to kill him. First she kisses him like, gods and goddesses like they were the last two people alive, which he was all for, but then she had to keep going. He was trying to be good here, not scare her off. However, the woman was making it very difficult when she is giving those naughty little kisses up his jaw like that. Then he felt her nibble on his ear lobe and it all went out the window and pulled them as close together as possible. Now the temptress was tracing the shell of ear with her tongue as he placed kisses down her neck. When he got to the base of her throat, where her neck and shoulder met, he decided it was time he was also naughty and gave a nibble of his own. His reward was a moan so light into his ear only he would hear it. He wasn't sure who it had more of an effect on, him or Kel.

"…Didn't they look so happy tonight Yuki?" They both froze as they heard Neal and Yuki walking towards them.

"Yes, Neal," replied Yuki.

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. I can't let Meathead find us in hear," whispered Dom frantically. "He'll hold it against me forever and say I didn't treat you right. What do we do?"

"Just calm down Dom," Kel whispered. "Stop talking and they'll pass by us without ever knowing we were in here. Then we just wait a minute and be on our way. By then they'll be in Neal's rooms, I honestly don't know why they even gave Yuki one."

"I'm telling you Yuki, if Dom doesn't manage to screw this up we will all be family, you know how in love he is with her. It will be perfect," they heard Neal proclaim. Dom was cursing Neal as he felt Kel stiffen in his arms.

"Let's just allow them to figure it out on their own Neal," came Yuki's sensible reply as they walked off down the hall out of hearing range.

After waiting in awkward silence for a minute Dom looked out from behind the curtain.

"Coast is all clear Kel," he called to her. Kel stepped out, still avoiding Dom's gaze. Dom realized he was going to have to bring this up. He did want to establish what their relationship was, he was just didn't want to strait out say I want to marry you eventually. He was hoping to ease into that a few months down the road. Damn Neal.

"Want to talk about it?" he asked.

Kel looked at him. She wasn't stupid, she knew he was giving her a chance to ask about Neal and you better believe she was going to take it.

"Was what Neal said true? About you wanting this to become that serious?" Kel asked looking back down the hall as they walked. Coming to her door she opened it and walked in with Dom following her, closing the door behind him.

Dom reached out and grabbed her arm and turned her around trying to get her to look at him. "Yes, Kel, it's true, I would like the chance to see where this could go. We've been wonderful friends for a really long time and I feel that something even more wonderful could grow from that," he finished as he caressed her cheek.

Kel looked up into his eyes and could see the sincerity in them. It gave her pause and hope, hope that maybe Neal's other words were also true.

"What about the other thing that he said?" She asked.

"And what might that be my dear?" teased Dom, wanting to hear Kel say it.

"About you….The part about you being, being in love with me?" she asked, never taking her eyes off of him.

"Kel, I am hopelessly, recklessly, deeply, and passionately in love with you. And I find myself falling deeper by the second," Dom said as he stared into her eyes hoping to convey his feelings. He must have succeeded because the next thing he knew Kel was kissing him like they were never going to see each other again.

Kel pulled back from him with a smile. "Just to be clear Sergeant, that was an, "I love you, too"," she said with a smile as she continued to kiss him. Dom was on cloud 9, she loved him! Unless he royally fucked up, she was his! He pulled back from her again.

"Does that mean you're not mad at me for what Neal said? About the whole family thing?" he asked.

Kel just chuckled, "No, Dom, I'm not mad, I'm actually not totally against those plans myself, given time of course. We need to see how things progress, but I'm all for having fun getting there and the overall end game."

Now that got Dom's attention as he looked at Kel. "What, my dear do you mean by "having fun getting there"?"

"I mean I also think it's pointless for us to have two rooms here as well," she said as she came up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist and gave him a kiss.

Dom leaned back after a minute of passionate kissing with Kel. "Not that I really don't want to dearest, because trust me I do, but are you sure? We only just started courting. I just want to make sure this is what you really want to do."

"Dom, while I appreciate you trying to be chivalrous, I have had feelings for you for years. While I may have only recently come to terms with them being love, then thought they would never be returned. I come to find out they are. I am not going to waste time going through some stupid archaic courting custom, when we are both consenting adults that love each other and want to be with each other." Kel finished strongly.

I did make a M rated chapter for in between this chapter and the next one for whoever wants to read it. It is just going to be labeled as Time Goes On 8.5 for both stories to make it easier for me. The M rated chapter is done, I just need to go back through and edit it, but I have not started the chapter 9 yet, I should be doing that some time tonight.


	9. Chapter 9

Last Time (from chapter 8)

Dom leaned back after a minute of passionate kissing with Kel. "Not that I really don't want to dearest, because trust me I do, but are you sure? We only just started courting. I just want to make sure this is what you really want to do."

"Dom, while I appreciate you trying to be chivalrous, I have had feelings for you for years. While I may have only recently come to terms with them being love, then thought they would never be returned. I come to find out they are. I am not going to waste time going through some stupid archaic courting custom, when we are both consenting adults that love each other and want to be with each other." Kel finished strongly.

"How long do you want me to stay, love?" Dom asked gently, secretly wanting to fall asleep with her nestled in his arms as they laid in bed after being with each other.

"I was serious when I said we should only have one room Dom. We are solders, we live on the front lines. Who knows what tomorrow may bring. I for one don't want to waste any time, however limited or long it may be trying to sneak around when you know that by sunrise this entire fort is going to know that we are courting. Besides if you listened to the conservatives I've already slept with all of the Own anyways," she chuckled.

"Good, I didn't want to leave you anyway," Dom laughed as he leaned down and kissed her forehead. "And just so you know my goal is to have a very long time together."

"Mine too Dom," Kel said as she nestled her head into his neck and promptly fell asleep, with him following close behind.

The Next morning Kel was roused by a light snore in her ear, followed by sensation of a warm arm draped around her midsection. Her eyes fluttered open to see Dom's chest, causing a smile to come to her lips. She leaned back slightly in order to look at his face, but the tightening of his arm around her waist caused her to stop.

"It's still sleepy time," she heard him mutter. She could only muffle her giggle against his chest at his antics. So she started to do what any sensible woman would in her situation. Trapped on an unbelievably small bed, that she honestly was amazed they didn't fall off of during the night, being held captive by her incredibly handsome boyfriend, needing to use the facilities, and getting hungry; time to use her womanly skills. She started to give him light kisses all over his chest, hoping to rouse him enough that he would release her so she could at least go the lavatory down the hall. Apparently it was starting to work a little too well.

"If you wanted that kind of morning all you hard to do was ask my love," Dom proclaimed as he rolled on top of her pinning her still very naked body to the bed, with his just as deliciously naked one.

Suddenly the door burst open and in stormed a very pissed off looking Raoul and Buri running after him as Dom tried his best to cover Kel with the blanket.

"GIVE ME ONE GODS FORSAKEN REASON WHY I SHOULDN'T KILL YOU WHERE YOU STAND!" Lord Raoul yelled as Buri shut the door and barred it shut, he hoped prevent anyone else from coming in. He meanwhile was trying to pull his pants on.

"A PERFECT GENTLEMAN YOU TOLD ME, LOOKED ME RIGHT IN THE DAMN EYES DOMITAN. A GENTLEMAN DOES NOT GO AND SLEEP WITH THE PERSON HE JUST STARTS COURTING!" behind him he could hear a rustle of clothes and Buri talking with Kel.

"I'm so sorry Kel, I tried to stop him," she whispered. "As soon as he got up he went and checked Dom's room, when he found out he never went back last night he lost it. I tried reasoning with him. Explained you were a grown woman, but you know how he is."

"WHAT WAS THAT BULLSHIT ABOUT LOVE AND NOT RUSHING HER?! NOT BEING A FUCKING HORNY TEENAGE BOY! WELL I'M PRETTY DAMN SURE I JUST CAUGHT ONE WITH MY DAUGHTER!" he screamed. Dom just stood there and took the lashing, also knowing he would be getting one from Neal and most members of the Own later, because there was no way the entire fort did not hear what was going on right now.

Kel for her part had just about enough of this. She was a grown woman, and she made her own choices. While she appreciated where Lord Raoul was coming from, he was taking this too far.

"Raoul," Kel said sternly to get his attention, knowing only using his name would work. She then stepped in front of Dom, hoping to shield him from any more trouble he may be in. "While I know you care for me deeply, I am also a grown woman. I asked Dom to stay, _he_ asked _me,_ repeatedly, I might add, if I was sure. And I told him the same thing I am going to tell you. That we are two people that love each other. We are soldiers on the front line that are never guaranteed tomorrow. So I am not about to waste time dancing around some archaic courting ritual that I could care less about. I'm pretty sure we both know each other enough to know that to be true," she finished in a much kinder tone.

"Well, when you put it that way," said Lord Raoul, his cheeks beginning to turn red with the realization of his actions as he scratched the back of his neck, making this situation sound pretty similar to his and Buri's. "I'm sorry, I just, I can't say I'm happy about this, but yeah. We'll just be going now. So Kel, you going to keep up with just using Raoul? You know it wouldn't be that hard," he laughed as he and Buri walked towards the door.

"I wouldn't count on it, My Lord," Kel said with a smile as they walked out the door. After her door shut she then turned around and looked at Dom.

"How the hell am I still alive?" he questioned her.

"He likes me too much to have me be mad at him," she said with a smirk, to which Dom burst out laughing.

"Come on you, let's get ready and go down for breakfast, as much fun as that's going to be," Kel said with a grimace.

The mess hall was unusually packed, due to the wedding and most likely Lord Raoul's lovely conversation this morning that helped to wake the entire fort. Kel and Dom could feel every eye on them that was even half awake. And then Dom could see a very irritated cousin of his walking up to him with a purpose in his every step.

He looked to Kel and said, "Here comes round two," with a nod of his head towards Neal. She just smiled at him and shook her head.

"You're on your own for that. I can only deal with one man's foolish antics in a day. I've reached my limits," she said moodily.

"Dom, just who I was looking for. Do you mind if we have a word outside for a moment," Neal said sharply and stormed off before Dom could even reply.

"Not very subtle that one, is he," Dom laughed. "Wish me luck." He then leaned over and gave Kel a quick kiss on the lips and followed the Meathead outside to have an interesting conversation, of that he was sure.

As Dom rounded the corner he saw Neal rush in front of him. "What were you thinking?! You're going to ruin everything! Not to mention hurt Kel in the process! You only just started courting her, and you, then you take advantage of the fact that she hadn't been with anyone! That's low Dom, I never thought you would do something like that, especially to Kel!" Neal was lecturing him at this point.

Dom growled low in his throat at this, "I would never do that to Kel and you better never suggest something like that again Nealan," Dom said with passion in his voice. "The reason I stayed is because she out right demanded me to. What sensible man would say no to that, would you if it were Yuki?" he asked.

"Well…. No I guess not," he answered hesitantly. "I heard Lord Raoul this morning and assumed the worst. How are you still breathing anyways, and with not even a bruise at that? I wasn't even called to heal you."

"The Protector of the Small strikes again," was his simple response, earning a laugh from Neal.

"You're lucky we leave tomorrow morning. The whole fort heard Lord Raoul's tirade this morning. Most of the Own that is stationed here are already planning ways to get back at you. I heard them conspiring on my way to the mess hall. Some ideas were actually pretty good," Neal said with a mischievous grin.

"I'm sure I will have a lot of that until the men figure out that I am serious about Kel. It's not like I've ever been serious about anyone before."

"You're in the Own Dom, serious isn't part of the bill. Flirt, have fun, then dich the girl is. Which I'm pretty sure is what every guy around you thinks you're going to do, so have fun with that," he said with a pat to Dom's back as he started to walk towards the mess hall for his own breakfast with a grin on his face.

By the late afternoon Dom had enough of being stared at and having pranks pulled on him. He had trash dumped on him on his way back to Kel from the privy, the men were at least smart enough not to do it by her and risk getting it on her in the process. Was glued down to his seat in the library when he and Kel went to look for books to occupy their afternoon, had his saddle tampered with so that when him and Kel went to take the horses out for a quick ride he fell right off his horse, in front of her, and then had is saddle come crashing down on top of him, and some how they got the cooks to put hot peppers in his food.

Dom was fed up and had muttered to Kel they were going to his rooms to get his clothes and then going to hers and barring the door and not coming out until it was time for the wedding that evening. Thankfully he had her wait outside his room when he went to get his clothes or else she would have also been met with a bucket of, what smelled like, rotten fish guts that was hanging above his door. He was beyond livid. He was covered in disgusting filth, in front of Kel to make it worse! This had to end!

Kel for her part, was trying not to crack up as she covered her mouth and nose with her hand. She knew how upset he was, but it really was funny. She start to step towards him intending to pick a fish spine off the top of his head when he turned around sharply.

"This is ridiculous! This has to stop. I will not live like this just because they don't approve of me!" he declared.

"Dom, they just don't know is all, they think your still being, well…You," Kel tried to say as gently as possible.

"I just have to tell them," he said, starting to sound slightly crazy. "I'll tell them all, then they'll have to leave me alone!" He then rushed past her, fish gust falling off him as he went. He raced down the stairs, almost slipping from the muck on his shoes, Kel hot on his trail, waiting to see what crazy thing he was about to do. He slammed the door to the main courtyard open and first walked over to the barrel of rain water. He took the small bucket sitting beside it, got some water and dumped it over his head, at least cleaning a majority of the fish guts off of him.

'Good at least he thought enough to do that,' thought Kel.

He then got another bucketful and scrubbed his face off. After that he grabbed Kel's hand and dragged her to the middle of the courtyard where the call bell was.

"What are you doing Dom?" Kel asked quickly, knowing that bell was only for important things.

"Making a point," he said as he pulled the roped and started to ring the bell getting every ones attention that he could. After waiting a minute he began to shout so that everyone could hear him.

"I believe everyone here has become aware that Keladry of Mindelan and I are involved. What you do not know is that we are courting and that we love each other. This is not just a fling or me playing with her. So if everyone could please lay off the big brother act at least a little bit, I would appreciate it. Thank you, that it all." He then leaned over and gave Kel a huge kiss for everyone to see. Earning a cheer from their fellow soldiers now that they knew the truth of the matter.

"Now I know why you washed off the fish guts," Kel laughed at him as they started to walk back towards his room to get is things.

"Be quite you. I'm not to the laughing about that point yet," he said with a frown.

"Oh my poor Sergeant," Kel teased. "I hate to break it to you, but while I may be blessed with my own wash tub in my room, you know the perk of being a Lady Knight and all. You love, will not be using it or else my room will smell like fish until we leave. It's off to the common baths for you."

"But love, you could help," Dom said with a suggestive tone. While that thought did give Kel a warm feeling, the smell of him was overpowering it.

Kel just stopped and stared at him once they reached his door. "Dom, I am not letting your unclothed body get within a foot of mine until you have scrubbed it at least 3 times. Which is not going to happen in my room. Oh and you should probably just throw those clothes away, I'm pretty sure the smell will never come out."

"Point taken my dear," Dom said in a defeated tone. "I'll be by after I thoroughly scrub myself."

"I believe I'll also take my own bath," Kel said. "After all you did touch me with your fishy hands." She laughed as she leaned in and kissed his cheek, then walked off to her room.

Later on Kel was starting to get ready for the wedding wondering where in the world Dom was. There was no way it should take that long. She was pulled out of her thoughts by a knock at the door. She pulled on her robe since she had yet to put her dress on and cracked it open to see Dom standing on the other side.

"I was wondering when you would get here," she said to him as she opened the door more so he could come into the room and giving him a kiss.

"Well I would have been here earlier, but after scrubbing myself 5 times with the soap that I had, I could _still_ smell the fish guts. So I went and tracked Neal down, which that alone took half an hour. Do you know that man can be impossible to find when you actually need him for something," Dom ranted on as Kel tried to hide her amusement. "So after I randomly bump into him in the hallway, thank gods or else I don't think I ever would have found him, I begged some special soap off of him that he said would get the stink out of a corpse. The only down fall is I had to let it sit on me for twenty minutes before washing it off. Hence, why it has taken me so long."

"Well, I can't say my time away from you has been nearly as exciting," Kel said as lightly covered her smile with her hand. "I took a nice relaxing bath, read a book about war strategies, and was about to start getting ready for the wedding. I figured I needed to report to Lord Raoul early since he is making me be his best woman and all."

Kel then turned and went back over to her desk to finish applying her makeup, this time even using colored lip rouge. She was in the midst of pinning her hair up when she felt Dom come up behind her and wrap his arms around her waist.

"Can I help you?" she asked him teasingly. He only wrapped his arms around her tighter in response.

"That depends on what you definition of help is," he whispered huskily into her ear as he kissed down her neck, then back up to suckle gently on her earlobe.

Kel could feel what he wanted help with pushing lightly on her back. Kel turned around in his arms and lightly ground herself into him, "While I would _love_ to help you with that, problem, you seem to be having, I'm afraid our time has run out. However, if you can control yourself till after the wedding, perhaps we can revisit the situation?" With that she leaned in and gave him an intense kiss that only left him wanting more as she leaned back out with a giggle as she reached up and gently wiped off the lip rouge that had gotten on him while caressing the side of his face.

"You have greatly overestimated my control, woman, if you think you can just do that and then leave me hanging there" he said staring at her in shock.

"Oh come on, where's my big bad Sergeant. Surely he can deal with a little sexual frustration. What I hear from the men it makes finally getting it ten times better," she smirked and turned back around to finish her hair.

Dom just shook his head at her and admitted defeat, realizing there was no way in hell he was getting any before the wedding and sat on the bed to wait for her to finish, trying to think of things to make his own situation less uncomfortable. What he didn't expect was for the damn woman to make it so fucking impossible for him. Not two second after he sits down he hears her say…

"Oh Dom, I need you to help me put my dress on. Lalasa put a million buttons going up the back and I would never be able to do them. While the dress does belong in a gallery, you really do need at least two people to put it on. It's in the wardrobe hanging up, it's the pale green one."

With that he looked up in time to see her drop her robe to the floor. Was she trying to kill him! And she had a damn smirk on her face. She knew what she was doing, and she was enjoying it, too! He would get his payback eventually, but for now he would do as he was told and got up to get the dress. It really was beautiful, he couldn't wait to see it on her. Not only because it would help stop his desire to jump her where she stood, but because she would look stunning in it. He brought it over to her while taking it off the hanger and holding it open for her to step into as she faced him. He them helped her put her arms in the sleeves.

"Now turn around love," Dom told her as he gave her a cheeky smile and a kiss to her nose. Her turning around wasn't much better as her then got the lovely view of her toned back. He gently ran his fingertips down her spine, smirking as goosebumps appeared in their wake. When he got to where the buttons began just above the small dimples on her lower back, he started to gently fasten them, not wanting to accidently tear one off. Once he got further up her back, he would periodically accompany a button with a kiss to her skin, earning a hitch in her breathing each time. The last button was just below her shoulder blades, he gave her one last kiss on her back and turned her around. The dress had what almost appeared to be a lace wrapped horizontally repeatedly making up a corset of sorts going around her from her bosom to just below her hips, and then an almost shear fabric coming up from the corset and forming a wide V neck line that carried around to her back, but still covering her scar from Stenmun, with a lace trim along the edge and then down to three quarter sleeves that had the same lace trim. The fabric that made up the skirt was made with a darker green silk underneath and then a shear layer of fabric in the same color as the rest of the dress. Kel was right, it did belong in a gallery, but so did she while wearing it.

"You look amazing love."

Kel couldn't hold back the blush that came to her cheeks. "Come on flatterer, I need to get to Lord Raoul to make sure there aren't any other surprises he has in store for me," she said walking towards the door. "I will say that you look quite dashing yourself, and I can't even detect a hint a fish anymore." With that she ran out her door before he could catch what she had said after the compliment, knowing that, just like Neal, he had horse blood in his veins, and would catch her in no time.

Once they reached Lord Raoul's rooms Kel tried to calm her laughing enough to knock on the door.

"Will you stop it Dom," she scolded him. At least trying to compose herself. He on the other hand had no problem keeping up with their antics as he leaned over and tried to give her another kiss. To which she promptly put her hand in his face and lightly shoved him away. "Domitan, do I need to remind you of the last time Lord Raoul saw us together?" That comment made Dom pale slightly.

"But love," he said as he snaked around to her other side, trying to come at her that way, to which she quickly dodged him, but he wasn't giving up. He kept chasing her around trying to get to her.

What neither of them noticed was a very amused Raoul leaning in his doorway, watching the very interesting sight of one Lady Knight Keladry of Mindelan, one of the best Knights he knew. Being chased around pillars, statues, suites of armor, and even bobbing and weaving, in a party dress to rival just about any he had seen, by one Sergeant Domitan, the once court player. It was a sight that made his old eyes happy, to see those two so in love at so young an age. He was happy they found it before it was too late for them to have their family like it was for Buri and him. Sure they have their friends they count as family, but with Buri being 35 and him 45 and him still working with the Own, they knew the chances were slim to none. So he stood and enjoyed the sight in front of him for a minute longer before clearing his throat.

"Here I thought we were here for my wedding, not you two to flirt all day," he laughed at them. They both blushed brightly at being caught by Lord Raoul. "Come on in you guys. Kel you look lovely. Dom I heard you had an interesting morning after my visit?"

"Oh I'm sure you already know all about it, My Lord," Dom said with a smirk. "I wouldn't doubt that you even gave them some ideas."

"Well I'm glad you got the fish smell off you at least," Raoul said while shaking with laughter and whipping tears from his eyes. "Buri would have killed me if she had to smell fish guts throughout her entire wedding!" Raoul couldn't hold it back as he bent over and grabbed his stomach, barking with laughter.

"Hardy, har, har. I'm glad you find such enjoyment in my misery, My Lord," Dom said with a deadpan look on his face.

"Oh come on Dom," Kel jumped in. "It was pretty funny." She smiled at him, trying to make light of the situation. "And the smell came out."

"I'm glad to amuse you all, but hopefully all this will stop now that we cleared the air about everything," Dom said with a finality, the embarrassment from this morning still too raw. "Lord Raoul, we came by to see if you needed help with anything."

"No I'm all done actually, Thayet already came by and gave me Buri's present, so I just had her take mine to Buri. I got her a K'miri crafted sword," he said proudly. "I think we should actually be heading down to the chapel in a minute."

"I feel like I'm failing in my "Best Woman" responsibilities," Kel grimaced.

"Well it's not like I gave you a lot of time to prepare," Raoul joked, hoping to make her feel better. "Just give me a good speech at the reception and I'll call it a job well done. Oh, and don't fall down when you walk down the aisle. Buri and Alanna would never let you forget that."

"Alanna's going to be here, I thought she couldn't make it?" Kel asked eagerly.

"Please, like that runt would miss my wedding. I knew she would be here, the only way she wouldn't be was if she were dead. She rode in about ten minutes ago. She went to go change clothes quickly, then she is riding out at predawn. Said she doesn't even plan on staying up for the reception, so if you want to say hello you better do it before she leaves the chapel," Raoul said, knowing Kel would want to talk to Alanna.

"Oh, I'll keep that in mind," Kel said as they started to walk out the door to go to the chapel and marry off the Commander of the King's Own.

The wedding itself was simple a best. Buri wore a dress similar to Kel's but with more details and colors that represented her K'miri heritage. They decided to say their own vows instead of the traditional ones. They promised to always treat each other as equals, to always love without anger, and always point out when the other was wrong. Which of course made everyone laugh in the standing room only filled fort chapel. They were pronounced man and wife and Lord Raoul swooped Buri up and kissed her for all to see as everyone clapped, cheered, and whistled. They then walked down the aisle and started to make their way to the wedding reception being held in the mess hall. When Kel got to the end of the aisle she paused looking around for the short Knight with bright red hair she knew would be somewhere around here before she disappeared for the night.

"You looked really nice up there Kel," Alanna said from behind her, causing Kel to spin around quickly.

"How in the world do you do that?" muttered Kel to herself.

Alanna just laughed, "Having George as a husband teaches you a lot."

Kel blushed not realizing she had said that aloud. "I'm glad you were able to make it. I know Lord Raoul would never say so, but he was starting to worry you weren't going to make," she smiled.

"Please, that brute knew I wouldn't miss this," Alanna said with a wave of her hand. "So I hear congratulations are in order for you. I'm glad you found someone Kel. It can be hard for a Lady Knight to be alone, especially us stubborn ones," she smirked.

"Thank you."

"Well, I'm of to bed. I have an early morning. Gods how I hate early mornings. Actually, let me go torment that squire of mine real quick, I know I just saw him," she said with sadistic glee in her eyes. "It looks as if your beau is waiting for you," she nodded her head behind Kel and then walked off to find Neal.

"Do I want to know why she looked so happy?" Dom asked cautiously.

"She is going to go torture Neal before heading off to bed," Kel chuckled. "Though he probably deserves it for something I'm sure."

'Pay back for this morning dear cousin!' Dom thought excitedly.

"Come on let's go get our food and take our seats, you have a toast to make," Dom teased her as he poked her side, earning a small squeal from his Lady Knight.

"Stop that Dom!" she whispered to him.

He merely kissed her cheek and then handed her a plate for her food. They got what they wanted and then took their seats by Buri and Lord Raoul. After listening to the Queen's speech for Buri it was Kel's turn. She was wishing she had prepared one ahead of time, but she honestly didn't have time to. So she stood up and cleared her throat.

"Lord Raoul," she said and laughed at his grimace, "Get used to it, because I shall always say Lord. You have always had faith in me when others had doubt. Always saw the smallest ray of sunshine on a rainy day. You will forever look for the best in people, just as I know you will forever bring the best to your relationship with Commander Buri. To Lord Raoul and Lady Buri of Goldenlake and Malorie's Peak!" She finished as she raised her glass to toast the happy couple. After which Lord Raoul and Buri got up to embrace her.

"That was beautiful Kel," Buri told her with tears in her eyes. "Thank you so much for those words. We shall remember them always."

"You're more than welcome, Buri. Here I was worried I wouldn't be able to top Queen Thayet," Kel said gently.

"I think you did great," said Lord Raoul as he gave her a massive hug. "Now before you go off to bed I need to see you in my office for a moment. So let me know when you are getting ready to leave and we can all slip out for a moment."

"Ok," Kel said hesitantly, wondering if they were planning on kidnapping her or something.

The evening was a wonderful. They all danced, ate more food than needed, and watched everyone else get drunk, since Lord Raoul gave a reprieve to his no alcohol rule for the evening. Only the actual guests could drink, since any soldiers that had to go on watch needed to be sober, but that still left enough people to be stupid. Kel didn't drink much, so Dom was being polite since she wasn't drinking and didn't partake other than a few tankards. Instead they watched the men dance on the tables and flirt with the few women that were at the fort. Finally, when Kel was done she went over to Lord Raoul and told him she was ready to retire for the evening. To which he had them follow him and Buri to his office.

"This concerns a somewhat private matter about your future," Raoul said uneasily as he turned to Kel and Dom outside his office door, realizing maybe he should have told Kel to have Dom meet her later.

Kel looked at Dom and saw the confidence shining in his eyes and he gave her hand a squeeze. "My Lord, Dom is going to be in my future, so if this is about that, then he should be there as well," she said firmly.

Raoul just nodded his head, "Very well, come in. Please sit down and I'll explain everything."

Kel and Dom sat in the chairs on the side of his desk facing the door. Lord Raoul and Buri went to the other side and he pulled out a folder from a drawer in the desk and sat down in his chair, to which Buri made herself comfortable leaning on his leg as there were no more seats.

"Buri would you like my chair?" Dom asked her, trying to be a gentleman.

She chuckled, "No I am perfectly content, besides you'll want to be sitting for this."

Kel and Dom just gave each other a nervous glance.

"So, as you know I am the last heir to Goldenlake and Malorie's Peak. And unless we have a child it is going to be auctioned off by the crown to the highest bidder upon my death. Buri and I have accepted that the likelihood of us having a child is slim. What with our age and the fact that we still travel with the Own, it's unlikely. Since I don't want that to happen to my land or my people, Buri and I started to try and think of a solution. And we thought of you, Kel. I already think of you as my daughter, and I wouldn't replace your actual father in any way. I had these paper drawn up, they would make you my legal heir, unless we were to have a child that survived to the age of eighteen. In which case you would be named second in line. All that they require is your signature and they would be legal."

"Wow, that's, just wow," Kel said after a minute, stunned. "Can… Can I think this over tonight, and let you know in the morning?"

"Of course. This is a big decision. Think about it and talk to us before you head out in the morning," Buri cut her new husband off, before he said something stupid. She ushered them towards the door and bid them good night, closing the door behind them.

"Why did you tell her she had till the morning?" Raoul demanded.

"Oh be quite you oaf. This _is_ a big decision for her. It will permanently change her life. I'm amazed she only asked till the morning. I know you want her for your daughter, don't think I don't know you haven't been talking to Peirs Mindelan in secret. I know that he's been sick and the healers say they can't help him, I also know he has forbidden anyone from telling Kel. You forget that I also have my own connections husband. So give her till the morning, you know she'll say yes, that girl has never been able to say no to you before, why start now."

A few hours later Kel was laying in bed with Dom, finally thinking about what Lord Raoul said.

"I hope you're not think about what we just got done doing with the face your making right now," Dom tried to joke with her. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I just don't know what to do," Kel sighed. "What should I do Dom? Do I accept it?"

"Kel you know I won't just tell you what to do."

Kel just groaned in frustration. "But that's what I want you to do! You realize this will affect us both, since we plan on getting married eventually right?"

"I know that love, but right now you just have to think about you."

"Fine, what would happen if I didn't accept this?" she asked.

"Well, Lord Raoul's childhood home would be sold off with the surrounding estates and land, his mother, if she were still alive would be kicked out, any money, which is vast from what I know, would go to the crown, and the people would be left to fend for themselves without a lord to protect or represent them for the crown," he finished with a frown, not liking those options at all.

"Ok what about if I accept?"

"Legally Lord Raoul would be like your father, though since you are of age that doesn't really matter. You would inherit everything upon his death, his land, money, homes. You would be responsible for helping the people of Goldenlake and Malorie's Peak in times of emergency and representing them to the crown, but from what I know Lord Raoul already has a very good system in place since he is gone all the time," he said.

"So… I guess I'm going to accept then. I can't abandon his people, knowing I could do something about it. So now that that's decided, what _do_ you actually think?" she asked him

"I think you should accept," Dom said. "For a few reasons. One because of his people, Lord Raoul has always made sure they were taken care of, and I know he would be upset if they ended up to fend for themselves in the end. Next is for our future, with me not being the eldest I'm not going to inherit much, and I know you have a plethora of brothers and sisters. I want to be able to take care of you, but once we actually want to get married I'll have to leave the Own. While I do get some income from my family estates, it's not enough to support a family."

He was cut off by a small chuckle from Kel, "Dom if you're worried about money you shouldn't be. Lalasa still insists on giving me part of her wages from her dress shop. I'm willing to bet that woman made more money than the Merchants Guild this past year. She is the go to dress maker for every noble in Corus, including the Queen. Between that, my knight salary which I don't spend any of since we are on the front line, and my "bonus" for our stunt in Scanra I could probably build my own castle and have some left over to start furnishing it."

"Oh, well then, never mind. So the people, and it would be a nice place to raise a family," he said, smiling at her as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Well that just sells it," Kel said as she rolled on top of him and gave him a tender kiss.

The next morning Kel went to tell Lord Raoul about her decision. Still thinking he was being crazy by offering her this, but knowing in the long run it was for the best. She knocked on his door and opened it when she heard his rough response.

She couldn't help but laugh at him when she saw how ruffled he looked. "Please tell me your new wife is the reason you look so weary and not me putting off giving you an answer," Kel said to him with a smile.

"I don't want to hear any smack from you young lady, you know very well you're the cause," he said moodily, as Kel tried to hide her grin.

"Well, I believe I have some papers to sign, My Lord," Kel stated, causing Lord Raoul to snap his head up from his paperwork.

"You mean you'll accept!" He exclaimed happily. "This is wonderful! Wait till I tell Buri, she'll be thrilled! Oh and I demand you stop calling me Lord." Lord Raoul got up and rushed around his desk and enveloped Kel in a bear hug, swinging her around, causing them both to laugh.

"I'm glad you're so excited about it," Kel said ignoring the last part. "Now where is this paperwork? As much as I would love to stay and celebrate with you, I still need to go eat before we head out."

"Oh yes, just let me grab it," he told her as he walked back around his desk and reached in a drawer, pulling out a thick folder and throwing it down on his desk top. "Now while it is pretty simple, there are a lot of places to sign. I took the liberty of having two copies drawn up, since I knew you would want one for yourself. In the paperwork are lists stating all the assets of the estates and everything that I have set up to take care of them, since we are gone so much. You'll find they pretty much run themselves. My mother lives in our house in Corus, which I avoid like the plague. She hasn't been to the country house since my father died. So if you find yourself close by and wanting to stop, you don't need to worry about running into anyone her. I'll be sending a letter to the staff informing them all of the changes so they'll be aware. I will also be setting you up an account for your earnings from the family estates to go into."

Kel just stared at him, trying to process everything he was saying. When he finally started talking about money and setting her up accounts she had to stop him. "Lord Raoul."

"I thought I told you not to call me that anymore," he said with a smirk.

Kel just shook her head at him and sighed. "You have a higher likelihood if Buri sprouting wings and flying off into the sunset. Now, you don't have to set me up an account. I have more than enough money to live comfortably. And should anything happen to you and I do inherit your estates, I will then have the money that comes with them to take care of them."

Raoul looked her straight in the eyes and saw her real concern. She was worried what people would say, that she just agreed for the money, and the conservatives probably would. Just like they tried to smear her name with everything else. "Kel, this isn't negotiable. I am setting up this account. I don't care if you never even touch it, but I want it there if you ever do need it. Think of it as an investment for your children," he laughed as he saw her cheeks turn pink.

He then pulled out the paperwork and a quill and ink and started going through everything. Having Kel sign where needed and explaining what was going to happen. Half an hour later a very bewildered Kel stood up from her chair to once again be hugged by Lord Raoul.

"Congratulation Keladry of Mindelan, Goldenlake, and Malorie's Peak," he said with a snicker. "That really is a mouth full. I'll go ahead and send all the paperwork back with Thayet to Corus. We'll have to get you a new shield made too!"

"You are a bad man, My Lord," Kel said, still amazed at his excitement about it all. The only thing she could think about was the fact that she was now going to have to write a letter to her parents explaining it all and hope they weren't mad about not telling them before she did it.

Ok there you have it. I felt like this chapter was kind of choppy, but I was trying to cover a few things since I'm trying to get the story wrapped up, but I'm also trying to tie in future stuff because I already know I want to write a second story, which will most likely happen this summer. If I had time I would just keep going with this one, but I don't. And since from the amount of people that have read this so far, I don't think anyone would be opposed to a second story, I'll go with it lol. So my goal is at least 2 more chapters, but I'm already having professors put up reading assignments early, I already have 5 chapters that I know of that I need to read in my first week of class, and that's just in 2 classes.


	10. Chapter 10

Winter had come and gone, with spring finally beginning to thaw at New Hope, making travel once again possible. Things were going wonderfully with Dom. They talked more and more about getting married and starting a family with each day that passed; on that front things couldn't get better. With Neal however, Kel was ready to pull her hair out. He was back to his moody self about missing Yuki and seeing Kel and Dom so happy and in love was making it worse. Kel and Dom did not try to hide their relationship in any way, they even shared Kel's apartment, deciding after the first week of being back and after having a talk with Toby, who was ecstatic about it, that it would be pointless to do otherwise. So, in return they had to hear Neal whine and moan about everything.

Kel's other concern, besides a moody Neal, was that she never got a response from her parent's about Lord Raoul before the roads were snowed in. Winter came early that year and didn't let up till the thaw had started. Any communication, other than what Numair had set up, was impossible. Kel was still worried about what they would have to say. Now that the roads were finally clearing up she was going to send another letter to them just in case her past one didn't make it.

What no one knew was that they would all be getting a surprise when the supply carts finally did arrive to New Hope.

On a clear chilly spring morning Kel stepped out of the headquarters building to breath in the fresh air. She made her way over to the mess hall, having already completed her warm ups for the day. She knew it was going to be a good day. The farmers were planning on going out to survey the fields now that the snow has begun to melt for the spring and see what they would be working with.

"Hello Dom, Toby," she said, ruffling Toby's hair as he tried to duck out of her way, taking her seat at the table. "Anything fun planned for today?"

"Peachblossom was telling me about a new trail he found," Toby said excitedly. During the winter they had let some of the warhorses out to pasture since they could take care of themselves, and then brought them in when the weather got too bad. "Can I go explore it with him? Please?"

Kel looked at him wearily, knowing that it was still pretty early in the raiding season and they hadn't seen or heard any sign of Scanrans, so the chances were still pretty slim of something like that happening and Peachblossom was as good as five men. She looked to Dom to see what he had to say.

"I think it should be ok, but you need to take your spear, a call horn, and you need to be back in an hour and a half. Make sure you put the smaller saddle Kel had made for you onto Peachblossom, too, just in case you need to use it," Dom told Toby, then glanced up at Kel to see if he said the right thing.

Kel could only smile at him and think he would make a wonderful father one day, since he was already doing so well with Toby. They finished up with their breakfasts and watched as Toby ran off to go on his adventure.

"You did good," Kel turned to Dom with a smile and gave him a small kiss. She looked up when she heard the horn call from outside the walls signaling a supply cart was approaching.

"The supply cart, I wasn't expecting that for another week at least. Not to say that I won't take it. Our stores were running low. And maybe they'll have a letter from Yuki so Neal can stop whining so much," Kel said with a grin as she started to walk towards the gates. They waved the travelers and merchants in with welcome arms, happy to have news from the outside world. While Kel and Dom were busy talking to the head solder in charge of the escort they didn't see a lone merchant, dressed to blend in as much as possible, slip off into the fort.

Kel was lost in her own thoughts, ecstatic, she had a letter from her parents in the mail bag! Two letters actually! She could finally stop worrying about everything. She left with the rest of the camps letters, on her way towards headquarters, so that the scribes could distribute them for her and so she could read her own letters. Just as she was about to walk into the door she is interrupted by a very flustered looking Neal.

"Keladry, my dear, dear friend. I need you to come with me. Right. Now," He said as he forcefully dragged her across the courtyard to the infirmary.

"Neal, what in the world are you doing?" Kel asked, as she floundered behind him.

Neal on the other hand just kept dragging her, through the infirmary doors, past the beds, past his desk, through his bedroom door, and stopped Kel so suddenly she stumbled and slammed the bedroom door shut. It took Kel a minute to realize what exactly she was staring at.

There in Neal's bedroom, stood Yuki, but not looking like normal. No, this Yuki was wearing tattered pants, worn shoes, a long coat with patches, gloves with holes in them, a scarf wrapped around most of her face, Kel guessed to hide her Yamani features, and dirt smeared on what skin was showing.

"Does Cricket know what you've done?" Kel asked her calmly.

Yuki bowed her head in shame. "She thinks I've gone to Queenscove," came her short reply.

Kel just nodded her head. Suddenly Neal's door burst open. "Kel what's going on, I saw Neal dragging you across… the… oh," Dom just stopped talking as he came in and closed the door. "This is…interesting."

"Shut it Dom," said Neal moodily. "This is not funny, interesting, or anything like that! This is serious. We are in a war zone, she can't be here! She could be arrested for being here!"

"Stop being so dramatic Neal," responded Kel. "Like I'm going to arrest Yuki, but Neal is right. Yuki, legally you can't be here, you need to go back capital."

"I'm not going Keladry," came Yuki's tight reply as she stared at her defiantly.

"See! This is why I'm being dramatic, don't you think I already tried to reason with her. I already explained that only refugees and soldiers are allowed to be here. She won't listen to me. Kel you need to talk some sense into her," Neal said desperately.

Kel knew as soon as he said it, that it was the complete _wrong_ thing to say. If Neal had been in his right mind, he would have realized that too, because as soon as he finished that last sentence, Yuki seemed to grow a foot and was talking in a voice that was colder than the Scanra River in winter.

"Nealan of Queenscove, no one is going to _talk_ some sense into me. I am Yukimi noh Daiomoru, a member of the Yamani noble house and am more than capable of making my own decisions. And as a member of a noble house, I am thoroughly educated, thus highly intelligent, something you seem to think I am lacking. I know the laws pertaining to a war zone. You think I would come up here without a plan? I know that in accordance to Section Three of the War Time By Laws, a Knights wife has the right to choose to be stationed with their spouse as long as they in an enclosed fortress or camp."

Neal was just holding his head in his hands. "Yuki," he tried to speak calmly. "You seem to be forgetting, that while we are engaged, we are not yet actually married!" He finished, his voice rising to a frantic tone by the end.

"Do you think I don't realize that Nealan. If I did, I would not have impersonated a merchant and sneaked my way up here _. That_ , is why Keladry is going to marry is," she said with a defiant smirk. "I am not leaving this refugee camp unless you drag me from it, which I know you will not do Nealan, because you value your life. I've already written my parents and they know of what I have planned. While they are not exactly pleased they have given their blessing as they value my happiness. And before you worry, they know you had no idea or say in the matter."

"Yuki, this is insane! Kel can't marry us! Can you marry us?" He asked Kel, turning to her suddenly unsure of everything.

"Well, technically….Yeah," Kel said hesitantly, not knowing exactly what she was getting herself into. "As the commander of the refugee camp I can perform a civil marriage, though I haven't been asked to do one yet."

"See," said Yuki triumphantly.

"I don't know Yuki, this all sounds pretty crazy," Neal told her, finally starting to calm down.

Dom seeing that they weren't going to kill each other at the moment, thought that this conversation should probably be between the two of them. "Why don't we leave the two of you to talk about this, now that everyone is a little calmer," he said as he put his arm around Kel's waist, leading her towards the door. "Just… Find us when you're done." And he quickly pushed Kel out of the door and closed it behind them. Once they were safely outside, away from the waring couple Dom turned to Kel.

"I did not see that coming," he muttered to her.

Kel shook her head and frowned. "I may be shocked, but I can't say that I'm surprised. Yamani women are quite and demure on the outside, but on the inside they are fierce worriers. While I did not expect her to go to such an extreme, I did expect her to start protesting soon."

"I guess knowing Princess Shinko, Yuki, and you that is a very logical and reasonable explanation," Dom responded to her as he hugged her around the waist.

"Well, I am going to go see if my parents are furious with me for not consulting them about becoming Lord Raoul's heir," she sighed.

Dom just laughed at her, "I'm sure they will love you just as much as they did before, my dear."

"Oh, it's not their love I'm worried about," she smirked. "You forget, my parents are bureaucrats. They are very good at making sure you know they are unhappy with you, without actually seeming unhappy with you. And I have yet to figure out how they actually do it."

Dom just continued to laugh at her, thinking she was working herself up over nothing. He leaned in and gave her a kiss to her temple before she pushed him away for not taking her seriously.

Dom was becoming worried after he didn't see Kel for the rest of the day After asking around he found out no one else had seen her either, she didn't even show up to lunch or dinner. So, after telling Toby to go play with the other children for a bit, he brought a plate of food up to Kel. He gently opened the door, not sure what he would find.

"Kel, sweet? Did they disown you?" He called out, half joking as he poked his head into the common room. He became even more worried when he didn't find her there. He set the plate of food on the table and made his way to their bedroom. He cautiously opened the door, only to find Kel, curled in a ball, asleep on the bed, with her face red, eyes puffy, and dried streaks running down her cheeks from crying.

'They couldn't have actually disowned her!' He thought frantically. Going over to the bed to grab the two letters she had from her parents and scanning through them. Once he realized the truth he stumbled backwards into the wall.

"… _Kel, we are so thrilled for you my dear. I know how fondly you think of Raoul and him you. I can't believe you would think your father and I would actually be cross with you, silly child…_

… _I do, however, have some bad news. Your father is sick, been sick actually, and getting sicker by the day. The healers have informed us there is nothing that can be done to prevent the inevitable. It is only a matter of time until he succumbs, I'm afraid. He forbid us from telling you, scared it would distract you and inadvertently cause you harm, but it's to the point that you must know…"_

"… _My Dearest daughter Keladry, I'm writing you, because I am on my last days. I want you to know I am so proud of all you have managed to accomplish and all you will come to accomplish in the future, because I will always be emphatically proud of you…_

… _I know that Raoul and you have an, interesting, bond to say the least. And now that you are his heir, I want you to take that relationship seriously now that I won't be here. It pains me greatly that I won't be there for you, to help you when your hurt, walk you down the aisle, see you become a mother and my grandchildren grow, but a wonderful man is more than willing to stand in now that I cannot be there. So I beg you Keladry, allow him to do it, it would help my soul rest easier knowing you still had a father figure in your life…_

… _Kel I'm saddened to tell you, your father passed away peacefully in his sleep last night..."_

"Gods Kel," Dom spoke softly. He then took off his boots and armor and crawled into bed to wrap himself around her. Trying to give her as much comfort as possible.

"…Dom…" He heard her mumble softly as she turned around in his arms and buried her head in his chest. "He's gone…"

Dom just held her and stroked her hair, trying to comfort her in anyway could. She finally fell back asleep after crying for about ten minutes. He just continued to hold her, trying to offer her unconscious what it sought.

He must have dosed off with her because he was roused from a light sleep by knock at the door. He gently untangled himself from Kel, trying his best to not disturb her. He made it to the door before they knocked again, opening the door to find Neal and Yuki standing on the landing.

Dom just sighed wearily, "You can come in, but I can tell you now you're not seeing her tonight." He saw the puzzled expressions on their faces. "Just come in, I'm not about to explain this in the hall, and try to be quiet, she needs to rest," he whispered to them as he ushered them towards the guestroom farthest from Kel's and his bedroom, then gently shut the door. He turned around to find Neal staring at him.

"You got her pregnant didn't you? I knew you would do something irresponsible and stupid and idiotic…"

"Meathead, shut up. You're not becoming an uncle anytime in the near future. I actually wish it were that simple, that we could at least do a quick wedding and say it happened the night of," Dom sighed, then looked up to see Neal's horrified expression. "What, don't give me that look. You would think up the same thing and you know it. You're just mad that I thought of it so easily. No, this is worse, at least a child we could fix… There is no fixing this."

"Dom, while I have gotten used to Neal's dramatics somewhat over the years, I would like you to tell me what is going on with my friend," Yuki demanded.

Dom looked up at them. "Before winter set in, Kel wrote to her parents about accepting the position of being Lord Raoul's heir. She was scared they would be upset with her, since she didn't talk to them first. She never got a reply before the winter storms set in," he sighed. "Today she got two letters from them. One written by her mother, saying they were thrilled for her, naturally, then telling her that her father was gravely ill and they did not expect him to last much longer, but he did _not_ want Kel knowing, because he was worried she would be distracted. And as we all know, a distracted soldier can be a dead soldier. The second letter was from her father, written to her while he was on his death bed. Begging her to Lord Raoul as a father figure, because he would no longer be there for her or her future children. At the end of the letter was her mother's writing, saying that he passed away peacefully in his sleep."

"Shit," said Neal as he collapsed on the edge of the bed. "No wonder she's been missing all day."

"Well, it's a good thing I'm staying," Yuki stated, causing Dom to look at her. "She will need a good sparring partner to keep her occupied."

"Why do you have that insufferable look on your face Dom?" Neal demanded.

"I always knew you wouldn't wear the pants in a relationship," Dom joked, trying to lighten the mood in the room.

"I will have you know Domitan, it was a mutual decision," Neal said adamantly.

"Yeah, whatever helps you sleep at night," Dom scoffed. "I should be getting back to her though. Can one of you find Toby and quietly let him know what's going on. That way he doesn't come bounding in like he usually does before bed."

"Yeah, we'll find him. Let us know if you need anything, ok?" Neal said as he put his hand on Dom's shoulder. "We'll see you tomorrow."

With that Dom saw them out and made his way back to Kel. Hoping to help her through this hard time in any way he could.

The next morning Kel woke up with a groan. "Dom?...Dom my head is killing me," she moaned.

"Well love, crying all day can do that to a person. I already told Neal that you were taking a personal leave day," he said into her hair as he held her close. "How are you feeling sweet?"

"I just can't believe he's gone. I didn't even know he was ill," she whispered against his neck. "It's just so much for me to process. I open one letter saying their happy for me, only to turn to he's sick and dying. Then the very next one he died. Thank gods and goddesses I thought to look at the post dates and didn't open my father's first."

Dom internally cringed at that thought. "We will get through this my love. I hope you don't mind, but when I saw you in such a state I read the letters."

"Dom, don't be daft," she said softly. "You know I would have just shown you any way. I probably never would have been able to tell you everything in the state I was in, even now I have my doubts."

Dom gave a silent sigh of relief, he was worried she would be angry with him. However, Dom was now worried about the next topic he was going to bring up. "I saw what you father wrote to you, about Raoul…" he left it hanging to see if she would say anything to the subject.

"Yes, he did. I know where he is coming from and given time….. I think I will be able to think in that way as well..." Dom noticed she was very careful to avoid using the word "father figure". "…But for now the wounds are too fresh, I need to heal love. For now Lord Raoul will be who he has always been to me, and if he wants to view me as his daughter, which I know he does no matter what I say, he can. Then we shall see what the future holds," she told him with a small smile.

"I think that is a perfectly reasonable answer my dear," Dom replied to her, tapping the end of her nose with his finger as he stood up from the bed. "Are you feeling up to going down to the mess hall, or would you like me to bring up plates for us to eat?"

"I think a day in would be nice," she looked up at him hopefully.

"If a day in is what my lady wants, then a day in is what she shall have!" Dom gestured grandly, making Kel laugh at him, which was his intended goal after all. "I believe I have also earned a personal day, and I intend to take it. I already know Toby has planned to be gone all day after I told him what had happened. He said and I quote, "I don't do crying ladies." He did say he was sorry to hear about your father though. So, it shall be you and me my dear. Well, until Yuki stops by, which I'm sure Neal will only be able to hold her off for about an hour at best. I'll be back with our food."

Kel just watched as Dom walked out the door, wondering if perhaps a day in really was the best idea.

After they had eaten and Dom informed her of the news that Yuki was, in fact, staying. They decided to sit by the fire and read until Yuki arrived. They knew it wouldn't be long. By the time the knock on the door finally came, Kel was curled against Dom's side, reading a book Piers had given her as a child that was filled with Yamani fairy tales. Dom got up to get the door as Kel continued to look at the book and quietly slipped out of the apartment to allow them their privacy.

"I remember that book," Yuki said fondly. "Cricket and I used to translate the stories to you, before you learned to read Yamani."

"Yes, now you have Neal to translate them for," Kel said with a sad smile, trying to be happy for her friend.

"I suppose I will," Yuki returned a real smile and grabbed Kel's hand. "'All of life is a dream walking, all of death is a going home.' He is in the Black Gods hands Kel. He is at peace. There was nothing you could have done except see him in pain, which he didn't want. You are right where he wanted you to be and while that is hard to accept, it is what he needed to be at peace. 'Without sorrows no one becomes a saint.'"

"You always know what I need to hear," Kel said to her warmly. "Thank you."

"You are always most welcome, Keladry." They shared a comfortable silence for a while as they looked at the book together, remembering better times.

"So, I hear I have a wedding to officiate," Kel finally said trying to hide her amusement.

"Please, like you ever doubted it would happen," Yuki declared with a spark in her eye. "He kept foolishly demand I go back to Corus, which both you and I knew wasn't going to happen, even if Neal still had delusions. So I finally told him that I was either staying here and marrying him or calling off the engagement all together, then walked out of the room. He came storming after me of course and all but dragged me back into the room. Started pacing back and forth in the room, honestly you might want to check the floor boards for wear," Kel looked up and saw the laughter in her eyes. "He finally asked me if I was sure I wanted to do this, give up my fancy wedding with everyone, my parents, being there. I told him that I would not have disguised myself as a merchant and traveled into a warzone, risking imprisonment if I were discovered, if I wasn't sure. He really can be thick headed sometimes."

"Sometimes?" Kel smiled.

"So needless to say, he agreed to the marriage and I will be joining you here. I hid a few of my normal things in my packs, but I will have to send a letter to Shinko in Corus to let her know what I have done, beg her forgiveness, and ask her to send me some of my things until Neal gets leave and we can go to Corus or Queenscove to collect some things for myself.

"If anyone would understand, it would be Shinko, with Roald posted at the City of the Gods. Even if they had not decided to put the wedding on hold due to the war, I highly doubt they would allow the crown prince and princess to be in a warzone together. I'm sure if she could pull a stunt like you did and get away with it, she would in a heartbeat," Kel said comfortingly.

"I know, I just can't help but feel like bad for not confiding in her. I knew though, that if I were to be caught, the less people that knew, the better."

"Yuki," Kel chuckled. "Do you honestly think that the intended to the future Duke of Queenscove would get more than a slap on the wrist? All they would have done was shipped you back to Corus. Queenscove is in The Book of Gold, if they pulled their support from the crown it could easily cause a civil war. That is not something the King would risk. There is also the fact that every high command official, which is who would determine what your punishment would be, would realize who you are once they removed your head scarfs, because you know all of them from here to Corus."

"So some parts of my plan may have been flawed, but I got here, and I am staying. That is all that matters," Yuki said triumphantly.

The next day Kel was in a much better mood. While she was still sad and upset about her father's passing, Yuki helped her to realize that it was better for him to be gone, than here and suffer, and selfish of her to think otherwise. Then Dom was there to comfort her till she forgot about her sorrows. When she walked into the mess hall in the morning and people started saying good morning, she could honestly give a happy reply. Today she was going to marry her two best friends; that is what she was looking forward to.

"Good morning Dom," Kel gave him a small smile, sitting next to him so there legs touched. "Thank you, for last night." She looked at him tenderly.

"Love, you needed comfort and I gave it to you. You never have to thank me for that. It's given freely," he told her gently, then leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "So are you ready to pronounce Mr. and Mrs. Meathead!" He grinned.

"Yes," she laughed. "But you better never let Yuki ever hear you refer to her as that or you will not like the ramifications."

"But my dear, that's why I have my very own Protector of the Small!" He joked with her.

"Oh no, I will not be protecting you from Yuki, especially for _that_." She proclaimed, poking him in the chest. Meanwhile, the player that Dom is, acted like he was dying.

"Oh, my love, you wound me so!" Clutching his chest while slumping over.

"What did you do to Dom this time?" Neal said behind them, causing Kel to smirk.

"Nothing, nothing, I'm fine. Perfectly fine. Kel didn't do anything," Dom all but shouted as he shoved his hand over Kel's mouth before she could say anything, scared that Yuki was right behind Neal.

"Ok, I don't even want to know," Neal just shook his head. "Kel, Yuki asked if you would bring her breakfast to my room. She kicked me out as soon as we woke up and said I couldn't see her again until the wedding. When is the wedding by the way?"

"I figured we could do it after breakfast actually. It's honestly my only free time," she said feeling slightly guilty. "Between helping with the chores, training the civilians, and now that we are plowing the fields…" She reached up and played with a strand of hair, a nervous habit she had yet to realize she picked up now that her hair was longer.

"That's fine with me. I honestly wasn't looking forward to purposely avoiding Yuki all day. That and once we are married we can let her come out of my room in normal clothes without fear of her being reported."

"Are you seriously going on about that too?" Kel just stared at him in amazement. Apparently they were both thick headed and meant to be together. "Neal, you're a Queenscove, one of the four Houses that are the Shield of Tortall… Do you seriously not see where I am going with this?"

"…"

"Gods, you really are meant for each other. Nealan, they wouldn't do anything to her, other than lecture her about thinking herself above rules and ship her back to Corus. The Crown cannot now, nor ever, risk losing the support of Queenscove."

"I never really thought of it that way," Neal said reluctantly. "But what if someone that didn't know her found her? The King never would have been involved."

"Then she would have been taken to the Commander of the district Nealan, I swear you guys do not use your brains sometimes. I know for a fact, that every Commander on the route she would have taken from here to Corus at least knows what Yuki looks like and who she is in relation to you, if they have not actually met her."

"And that is why I love you," Dom cut in. He could tell that Kel was starting to get frustrated with Neal's lack of thought. While she was starting to feel slightly back to normal compared to yesterday, her patience was nowhere near there yet.

Kel turned to Dom with a small smile, "I hope you love me for a lot more than that."

"And that's my que to leave. Just, please, go take Yuki some food. I'll go wait in headquarters for you guys with lover boy here," he spoke while getting up from the bench and dragging Dom with him.

Kel also got up to take her plate to be washed in the back, then went and grabbed some food for Yuki before making her way across the courtyard towards the infirmary to find Yuki. Once there she gave a knock on Neal's door.

"Who is it?" she heard Yuki call out.

"It's the Yamani Emperor, open up," Kel joked, only to be met with Yuki's scowl.

"I am not in a laughing mood Keladry. Nealan tried to get back in this room five times before he realized I wasn't letting him back in till the ceremony. Now come in before he tries again," she rushed Kel through the door.

Kel just rolled her eyes at Yuki's antics. "I highly doubt he'll be trying again. He and Dom are waiting in headquarter for us. This morning is really the only time I have to do the ceremony," Kel said slowly, hoping she wasn't making Yuki feel unimportant. "It's just we're trying to get ready for planting, and training the civilians, and, and you're not mad are you?"

Yuki just smiled at her, "No Kel, I'm not mad. I'm well aware that you have a refugee camp to run and can't plan a wedding around it. I wasn't expecting a big ceremony. All I need is Neal, me, and you, since you have to marry us," she finished with laughter in her eyes.

Kel gave a silent sigh of relief and hugged Yuki. "Well let's go get you married then, after you eat of course."

"Do you honestly expect me to eat? I'm about to get married," Yuki stated excitedly.

"What was I thinking," Kel joked. "Let's go make you a Lady of Queenscove."

With that they walked across the courtyard to the headquarters building where Neal and Dom were waiting. When they walked inside they found Dom sitting by the fire, with Neal pacing anxiously.

"Apparently I'll have to check these floor boards too," Kel muttered to Yuki, making her bring her shukusen up to cover her smile of amusement.

"So are you ready to have a wedding?" Kel asked louder.

"Kel, we may have a bit of a problem," Dom said in a bored tone. "Meathead here has realized he doesn't have _the_ wedding ring for Yuki, since the Queenscove ring that was supposed to be given to her on their wedding day is in the family vault in Queenscove. This ring is passed down through generations of Queenscove Lady's, hence what brought on the pacing." He gestured to Neal.

Kel turned to Yuki. "I don't suppose you brought a stand in ring?"

"No, I spent as little money as possible to not arouse suspicions," she grimaced. They all tried to think of a solution.

'I have a few rings,' Kel thought. 'But they would all be too large on Yuki's fingers. Her hands look like a child's compared to mine.'

"That's it!" Kel shouted excitedly. "I'll be right back." She raced upstairs, leaving a bewildered group.

"Do you know what she's doing?" Neal questioned Dom.

"No idea," he said as Kel came running back down just as fast as she had left trying to catch her breath. "That was fast," Dom joked with her as Kel stuck her tongue out at him.

"This is the only thing I can think of that might fit," Kel said, hold in the palm of her hand a solid silver ring. "I had it made for Toby, to fit on his thumb. It has a protection spell and locator spell worked into the metal, so that I can always find him."

"Even if it fits, I can't take that Kel, not when it's to keep Toby safe," Yuki said seriously.

Kel just smiled at her. "Yes, you can. You see, I prepared for the fact that Toby is a small boy that loses things constantly. That's why I had four of these made out of silver instead of one made out of gold. When we get down to one ring we go on a scavenger hunt to find the other ones. Sometimes I think he loses them on purpose just to have a few hours of fun with me looking for them with the locator."

"Well. If you're sure, then I guess I can try," Yuki said hesitantly, while taking the ring. She slipped it on her ring finger, while it was slightly loose, it was better that anything else they had. "It will do for now," Yuki nodded her head.

"After the ceremony, I'll take it over to the blacksmith," Neal said. "He can melt a small piece of silver down and attach it to the inside to make so it won't slide off." He smiled, trying be happier, but still upset she wouldn't be getting the Queenscove ring.

"Then it will be perfect," Yuki smiled towards him brightly, knowing he was still upset. "And we can just switch your family ring to your other hand for now, until we can get your wedding band from the vault also."

"So, before we begin, would you guys like to say your own vows, or would you like me to say the traditional ones?" Kel asked.

"Do you honestly think I would pass on the chance to say my own vows Kel?" Neal asked her amused.

"Right," Kel smiled. "So we need a witness…"

"Here!" Dom called, earning a chuckle from everyone.

"We have a rings, though they aren't really needed, I have the paperwork that I had the scribes write up, and we have a bride and groom. Ok let's begin. Neal, you may say your vows."

"Wait, what, just like that?" Neal turned his head towards her, stunned.

"Well yeah, it's not like I have an audience here to introduce you to or anything, now spill your heart out," Kel smiled at him.

Neal blushed. "Oh, well, Yuki, I promise… Man this is harder than it looks," he chuckled nervously and cleared his throat. "I love you more than life itself. You're my reason for waking in the morning, so I can be with you. And my reason for going to sleep at night, so I can see you in my dreams. I never want to imagine my life without you. I will always treat you with the respect you deserve, listen to your words and undying wisdom, even when it might take me a little longer than most to comprehend them," he smiled at her. "I will love you forever, until the breath has left my body and an eternity after." He reached up and wiped a lone tear off of Yuki's cheek as she smiled at him.

"Yuki," Kel said lightly.

"Nealan, how you went from an uncouth squire to the man I fell in love with I don't know," she smiled fondly. "But I do not regret one second of it. You are the true Ying to my Yang. My soul mate. And I would willingly travel this world a thousand times over to find you again. I promise to talk reason into you, not let you worry yourself to death, treat you with just as much respect as you give me, and on occasion let you win an argument. I love you Nealan, now and always."

Kel looked over at Dom, who was trying to inconspicuously dab his eyes, causing her to smile. She then looked at Neal and handed him the ring she had for Yuki.

"Nealan of Queenscove, repeat after me, 'With this ring, I thee wed.'"

"With this ring, I the wed," Neal said with the grin of a kid in a candy store as he slipped the ring on Yuki's finger. She then handed Yuki Neal's ring.

Yukimi no Diaomaru, repeat after me, "With this ring I thee wed."

"By the power vested in my by the Crown of Tortall, I now pronounce you husband and wife! You may now kiss your bride!" Kel said excitedly, happy for her friends. Neal dipped Yuki backwards and swept in for the kiss. Dom and Kel clapped and whistled for their friends and family. Dom came over to Kel, giving her a kiss on the cheek, then looking at Neal and Yuki, who were still caught up in their moment.

"Do you think we'll look that happy?" he asked her, with a gleam in his eyes.

"I think you love to tease me Domitan of Masbolle," Kel proclaimed as she gently elbowed him.

There you go, I gave you a wedding! Probably not the one you wanted though. I also love to tease you guys :P A little sad mixed with a little happy. Hope you enjoyed give a review! One more chapter to go!


	11. Chapter 11

Two months had passed since Kel found out about her father's passing and Yuki had surprised them all. Everyone had settled into the new rhythm of things, with Yuki taking over instructing the children with staves and also in the school house, freeing up others to do jobs they were more skilled to do that, while Yuki was willing to learn, honestly had no idea how. Yuki also had a natural gift and patience with children that most others freely admitted they did not. At the moment New Hope was waiting on the arrival of Lord Raoul and Buri, who were on their way to Mastiff from Corus, and were coming to New Hope for a brief stay. They were also bringing a substitute healer from Corus so that Neal and Yuki could finally go to Queenscove and retrieve some of Yuki's belongings. They decided to wait on retrieving their rings until they left the warzone for good, not wanting to risk losing or damaging them. They would be gone for a month, and while Kel would miss them, she was happy they would finally get some time to themselves.

"Mother," Tobe called, Kel noticed he used that more than her name these days. "Is Lord Raoul going to be arriving today?" Tobe and Lord Raoul adored each other. Probably because it gave Lord Raoul a child to spoil and a more than accepting child.

"Yes Tobe, Lord Raoul and Buri will be arriving today," she smiled at him as he ran away in glee. "I don't know what I'm going to do with those two," she muttered to herself.

"What did I do now?" Dom teased her as he came up behind her and rested his forearm on her shoulder, leaning against her.

"Surprisingly I wasn't talking about you," she said turning her head towards him and moving to the side quickly, causing him to stumble to the side. "I was talking about Tobe and Lord Raoul. The child and over grown child that loves to spoil him," she smiled.

"Well, then nothing at all my dear," he laughed.

"My thought precisely," she smirked. "Come on, let's go get some breakfast, they should be here sometime today." With that they made their way to the mess hall.

Around two bells past midday they heard the horn calls for friends approaching the gates. Kel went to wait by the gates for her friends, excited to see them after so much time.

"Keladry of Mindelan, Goldenlake and Malorie's Peak! There she is! I told you she would be waiting for us Buri!" she heard Lord Raoul shout. She could only shake her head at him as he jumped off his horse and rushed over to her, enveloping her in a hug.

"You are a bad man, My Lord, but it is very good to see you," she said into his shoulder, returning the hug just as hard, not realizing how much she missed him until that moment.

"And to see you as well," Raoul responded as he coughed to clear his throat. He then put her at arm's length, examining her. "I see Dom's made sure you didn't kill yourself."

"We haven't actually seen much action besides a random group of raiders here and there, and those are usually less than ten men that are so thin I could just send out two of the warhorses and they could take care of them on their own. With the lovely defenses that we got, I usually just have the archers take care of them from the walls. That or if the farmers are out in the fields they usually take care of them on their own before we even get out there," she smirked. Following him back to his horse, watching him curiously as he grabbed a large wrapped package off of his saddle.

"This is for you," he said brightly, holding out the large package.

"Lord Raoul, you didn't have to get me anything," Kel told him.

"Just take the blasted thing Kel, that man hasn't stopped talking about it the whole trip up here," Buri called out as she got off her own horse and made her way over with just as much excitement on her face despite her words.

"Ok." Kel took the large box, which was apparently deceivingly heavy! She set it on the ground and started taking the cloth off the outside of the box, only to find it was actually a wooden crate. Her curiosity was peaked as she displaced the heavy lid and saw the large wood shavings inside to protect whatever was buried in there. "Now I'm beginning to see why Toby like's when you come to visit," she said with a smirk as she looked at him. She reached into the shavings and felt the edge of something cold and hard and grabbed on, pulling it out of the box. Out she pulled the most beautiful shield she had ever seen, which was saying something. It was a kite shaped shield (upside down teardrop, just more stretched out) with slightly curved edges to help deflect a blade and arrows. The design was a work of art in itself. Within her double border was the a side profile of a rearing bear, the banner of Godlenlake and Malorie's Peak, and then her own Mindelan Owl with wings outstretched above it, holding a glaive in its talons. She looked it over turning it all around, then spotted the Raven Armory emblem on the back. "Lord Raoul, this…This is," she was about to say too much, but stopped herself. She looked at him with tears in her eyes, feeling something she thought she wouldn't for a long time after she found out about her father's death. "Thank you." She gave him a hug, trying to prevent the tears from falling.

"You are more than welcome Kel, I can't let my daughter go around with anything other than the best after all," he said softly to her as he returned the hug.

"No," she laughed, "We can't do that, now can we."

Buri just stood back, watching the two interact. They were finally getting there. Raoul was so upset when he found out about Piers death, but they were already in Corus. He wanted to leave right away and go to Kel, thankfully Buri was able to talk him out of it. Reminding him that Dom was there for her and that they were planning on stopping on their way to Mastiff. Once they got word that Yuki had snuck up there and married Neal in order to stay, it made them feel even better since she had even more support.

"Come on My Lord, Buri. Let's go get you settled into the guest room in my quarters. I don't believe you've been here since it's been done," she said happily, leading them into headquarters and up to her rooms, she carried one of their bags as Lord Raoul carried the rest of them.

Lord Raoul let out a loud whistle when they stepped into her quarters. "This is quite the nice space you have here Kel, though I could have done without lugging these bags up three flights of stairs," he grimaced.

Kel and Buri just laughed at him. "I think it is a fair price to pay considering I get my own quarters, guest rooms, and Buri you'll like this the most, bathing room."

"You will most certainly have to show me that," Buri smiled.

"That will be the next stop, right after I show you to your room," she than guided them to one of the guest rooms she had. "I actually had this guest room made with you guys in mind. Well more like the bed in this guest room," she chuckled.

They looked in and saw a large bed, very similar to the one Kel had in her bedroom. Lord Raoul and Buri laughed, "Look Raoul, I won't have to hear you complain about how you don't fit on the bed!"

"I actually have a similar one in my room, the woodworkers made it when I complained about not having any room in the bed with all the animals and then when Toby would crawl in the bed, before I could convince him to sleep in his own room. I remembered all the times you would curse about the beds whenever we stopped at an inn or were visiting a fief. I figured with Buri it would only be worse," Kel tried to hide her amusement.

"I, for one, will be forever thankful, Kel," Buri proclaimed. "Now, you mentioned a bath?"

"Yes, it's right over this way. I'm sure after your long ride you would like to relax." Kel led her to the bathing room and showed her how to work everything.

Raoul poked his head into the room, "I'm going to go for a walk and say hello to everyone, besides I still have a little boy to find," he said with a grin as he ducked out of the doorway.

"This is simply amazing Kel," Buri exclaimed to Kel. "I'm jealous."

"I certainly enjoy it, that's for sure."

Raoul made his way around New Hope, looking for a certain sergeant of his. He finally found him standing up on the wall. "I was wondering when I would see you," Raoul proclaimed.

Dom turned to him with a cheeky smile, "I figured you would track me down soon enough, we all know you can't stay away from these devilish good looks for long."

Lord Raoul laughed at him and swatted his arm. "So how have things been going? Is she doing ok?" He asked concern evident in his voice.

"She's getting there. I think Yuki actually helped the most, as much as it bruises my male ego to say," he chuckled. "She seems slightly better with every day. Every now and then she'll have a bad one, but overall she is doing well."

"Good, I was worried about her. Buri convinced me not to come up here the moment we found out," he heard Dom trying not to laugh, "But it was still hard. I also got that package from your mother that you wanted. You didn't warn me the woman would give me the third degree when I picked it up."

"Yeah well, she's like that with everyone. Sorry about that," Dom said as he took the small package that Lord Raoul held out towards him.

Lord Raoul looked at Dom, searching his face for something. "You know I had an interesting meeting with King Jon while I was in Corus," he stated.

"Oh yeah."

"Apparently they're in the works of a peace treaty with Scanra. The Scanran Lords overthrew Maggar once word got out about Blayce's actions, which our spy master made sure of. Which means that no one is coming for Kel and this war is going to be over soon. A Scanran delegation is due in Corus next week," he said, glancing at Dom out of the corner of his eye.

"We'll get to go home soon," Dom said happily.

"Yes. We will."

"Dom," Kel said his name as they were getting ready for bed that night causing him to look at her.

"Yes dear," he smiled, stopping to look at her before throwing his shirt in the dirty clothes basket, knowing she would scold him if he didn't.

"I was thinking," she paused to think of her words before saying them as she sat on the bed. Taking a deep breath and looking at him she continued, "Tobe calls me mother now, more than Kel, I actually don't remember the last time he called me Kel. Well, what would you think if that we really the case?" She asked him, looking uncertain.

Dom sat down on the bed next to her and took her hand, gently running his thumb over her knuckles. "Kel, Tobe would be the luckiest boy in the world to have you as his mother. I also think he would be ecstatic beyond belief if you asked him. And you know I would be here to help you every step of the way, too," he smiled at her.

Kel smiled at him. "If…When, we get married, would you adopt Toby as your own as well? I mean, I wouldn't fault you if you didn't, I was just," she was saying quickly before Dom hushed her with a soft kiss.

"I would be more than happy to adopt Toby when we get married Kel. You know how much I care for you both. I would love to be just as much of a father for Toby as I will be for our own children one day. So how about we finish getting ready for bed and tomorrow we will have the scribes draw up the papers for adoption and we can talk to Toby about it," he said as he finished undressing and then crawling back into bed and pulling the covers over Kel and himself. "Goodnight love."

"Goodnight," Kel muttered as she curled herself around him, content as could be.

The next morning Kel was walking around the outer walls with Lord Raoul, enjoying the small talk with him. Completely aware that in tomorrow he would have to leave for Mastiff. After a brief moment of silence, Kel looked at Lord Raoul out of the corner of her eye.

"So…" She started hesitantly. "What would you think about a grandchild?"

"You're pregnant?!" He whispered frantically, trying not to be heard. "I'm going to kill him! You're not even married!"

"No Raoul, no," Kel laughed, stopping him in his tracks.

He looked her up and down. "You used my name," he squinted at her, still suspicious.

"Well, I figured it was time for a change," she looked towards the ground shyly. "Now as for a grandchild, no I am not pregnant, thus you don't get to kill Dom anytime soon. I am going to adopt Toby. I already talked to Dom about it and once we get married he's going to adopt him also. It will be easier that way, less paperwork. I just thought I would mention it to you, since you'll be a grandpa now and all. That and he would become part of House Goldenlake and Malorie's Peak. I wasn't going to give him the option of being an heir at all, if that would have been a concern of yours. I know Toby wouldn't want it, dealing with nobility stuff just scares him. He already has his heart set on taking over for Stephan at the Royal stables. Once this blasted war is over we plan on going to Corus and letting him visit with Daine and Numair so she can help him with his horse magic and to start training under Stephan."

"I prefer the term Papa, I'll have you know," he chuckled. "And if Toby wanted to be an heir after you, it would be fine by me. I just want you guys to be happy. Just to let you know, this war will probably be over sooner rather than later. After the Scanran Lords found out what Maggar allowed Blayce to do, they overthrew him. They have a delegation on their way to Corus now in order to begin peace negotiations. That's why Wyldon is in Corus and I am being sent to Mastiff. I expect that we should all be heading home by the end of the summer."

Kel felt a mixture a happiness and sorrow at this. She was happy at the prospects of going home, but at the same time, she would miss all the friends she had made. She knew the refugees would survive on their own. She would have to submit paperwork to the crown to make New Hope a town of their own, knowing that the refugees now saw this as their home and not just a place to stay till the end of the war. She had set them up with excellent defenses and on thriving farm land, they would be fine.

"Well that's good. I know Neal and Yuki are wanting to start a family soon, but the whole being at war thing kind of puts a damper on it," she smiled.

"What about you?" Raoul nudged her with his elbow. "Any family aspirations in there?"

Kel blushed, not really wanting to talk about her love life with him. "We talk about it, but I think we still have time. I mean, Dom hasn't even asked me to marry him yet, and I certainly am not going to be popping out any little minions before marriage," she said as Raoul laughed at her. "What in the world do you find so funny?"

"You do realize you just referred to your future children as minions, right?" Raoul managed to get out around his laughter and wiping tears away from his eyes.

Kel just smirked at him. "Yes, but you do realize they will not only be _my_ children, they will also be Dom's children. And you, Raoul, get the proud honor of being their Papa," she said with sadistic glee, sobering him immediately.

"Dear gods, I'm done for," he muttered as she walked away.

Kel was helping Yuki pack up her bags for the trip to Queenscove. She was going to miss them greatly, but knew they needed to go get some of Yuki's belongings, plus they wanted some time alone, without worrying about an entire town of people.

"I've gotten so used to you being here," Kel looked at her with a small smile. "I'm going to miss you."

"We'll be back soon, Kel. Probably too soon for Neal's liking," Yuki said fondly. "And I already promised you I would bring you back some green tea to ease the pain of my being away."

"Yes, that will make everything better," Kel teased as she picked up the bag she had just finished packing for Yuki and put it by the door. "How many days will it take you to get to Queenscove?"

"Neal said it should only take three days, which really means four, since we all know how he travels," she said as she folded a pair of his pants and put them in a travel bag. "I will just be happy for when this is over and we can leave the war zone for good. Lord Raoul was saying that they were working on peace talks. I just hope that they are able to come to an agreement. War is never good, especially for the poor civilians that lose what little they already had."

"I can't agree more Yuki. These Kings and Lords can sit in the capital and never realize the destruction that is going on around them. I'm not sure what it's going to take for these peace talks to work, but hopefully they happen," Kel looked at Yuki with hope in her eyes. "Come on, let's get these to the horses before Neal comes and accuses me of trying to stall you." With that they made their way out the door and to the stables where Neal was waiting. After Dom and her waved them off they went to go find Toby, they still had a little boy to make very happy.

"Where on earth do you think he is?" Dom asked her curiously after looking for him for half an hour.

"I don't know, but I know how we can find out," she muttered, lifting her wrist so she could look at it and pushing back her glove to reveal a bracelet that had a polished metal bar on it. She held her thumb to the bar for ten seconds to activate the locator spell. One dot was all the way at the edge and was staying there, she knew that was Yuki. The other was within range off to her left, near the stables. "Like that's surprising, this way." Dom followed her, never actually seeing the locator in action. He followed her into the stables, pass three stalls till they got to Peachblossom's stall. Inside they found Toby, who was huddled into the far corner, crying, with Peachblossom trying to give him a comforting nuzzle every now and then. Kel immediately rushed into the stall and knelt down in front of Toby, giving him a visual glance to see if anything was hurt, but not finding anything.

"Toby," she said gently while trying to reach out to him, but he just tried to get away from her. She looked at Dom to see if he knew what was wrong, but he only shrugged his shoulders at her. "Toby, can you tell me what's wrong? Did you hurt yourself?" However, Toby just continued to silently cry, refusing to look at Kel. "I can't fix it if you don't tell me what is wrong Toby," Kel told him patiently. "Have I ever not helped you?" That statement caused him to look at her with a sniffle.

"I…I heard Lord Raoul and Lady Buri talk'n, bout the peace talks 'n stuff," he said hesitantly. "The wars gonna end, 'n ya gonna leave me. Your gonna go off 'n be happy 'n forget all bout me!"

"Oh Toby, I'm not going to leave you anywhere. The only place you're going to be is with me," she told him with a soft smile as she wiped the tears off his face.

"Do ya mean that mother?" he asked earnestly.

"Yes Toby. Come on, I have a surprise for you, Raoul and Buri are waiting for us in Headquarters." She stood up and gave him a hug, then grabbed his hand.

"Don't worry Toby," Dom smiled. "You'll like this surprise." He held the door open for them as they all walked into the common room of headquarters. There waiting for them was Lord Raoul and Buri, they had the paperwork that was needed for Kel to legally adopt Toby sitting out and waiting for her to sign it. Kel led Toby over to the table and had him sit down and knelt in front of him, his face was still botchy from crying.

"Toby, you know I love and care for you very much. That I will always look out for you and do what I think is in your best interest, right?" She questioned him.

"Yes," he sniffled, not sure where this was going.

"Well, what would you say to calling me your mother for real?" she smiled, seeing how long it would take him to catch on.

"But, I already call you that…" He said, no following what she was saying.

"What I'm asking Toby, is would you like for me to adopt you? Would you like to be my son?"

Toby was out of his seat and in her arms faster than anyone could comprehend.

"You'll really never leave me," he said through muffled cries.

"I'll never leave you Toby. I'll be here for as long as you want me," she told him gently. "So I would like to introduce you to some people." She smiled and turned a confused Toby around, since he already knew everyone in the room. "As you know, Raoul adopted me, just like I'm adopting you. So he wanted to know if he could be your new Papa."

"Really?" Toby looked at him hopefully.

"Really young sprout," Raoul chuckled. "And this young lady beside me," he hugged Buri's waist. "Wanted to know if she could be your new Dapir. (Kurdish word for that I found for grandmother, the cultural group I think somewhat matches the K'miri) That's what Buri's grandma was called and she decided to keep up the tradition."

"So what do you say Toby? I know I'm a little young to be a Dapir, especially compared to this old guy next to me," she elbowed Raoul. "But I think I'm up to the task if you'll have me."

Toby couldn't answer them, he just continued to stare at them, not knowing what to say. Dom decided now was the best time to step in and take his turn as he kneeled down in front of Toby.

"They're not all Toby, as you know Kel and I plan on getting married one day," he smiled as he watched Toby's face slowly trying to process what he was saying. "Which means that if you would have me, I would love to be your father as well. Now while for legal reasons I won't be formally adopting you until Kel and I get married, that doesn't mean that I don't already consider you as a son. We all care for you and will always be here for you."

They all watched Toby closely, not sure what he was going to do. What they didn't expect was for him to break down crying! Kel and Dom knelt in front of him as he sat crying on a bench.

"Tobe, what's wrong, aren't you happy?" she asked carefully.

Tobe flung himself off the bench into Kel and Dom's arms, "Yous are giv'n me som'thin I never though ta have," he said through tears. "A family," he whispered as he held them tightly, and they held onto him just as tight.

After a moment Kel pulled her head back and looked at him smiling, wiping away his tears, "Why don't you go give your new Papa and Dapir a big hug, I'm pretty sure they would love one." With that Tobe ran over to Raoul, who picked the boy up like he weighed nothing and tossed him in the air, only to catch him then give him a huge bear hug. It made her forget he was a boy of nine or ten, even when he was still small for his age from being underfed all those years. Buri didn't even wait her turn and just came over and joined the hug that Raoul was giving him.

"I think we made a boy very happy today," Dom said as he wrapped his arm around her waist watching Raoul, Tobe, and Buri.

Kel just smiled. "I think we made a very happy family," she looked up at him and gave him a small kiss. Then went back to watch Tobe with his new grandparents. "Just wait till he meets my mom, she'll spoil him rotten too. Will yours at least tell him no?" She half joked with him.

"Have you met me, my dear?" he laughed at her. "I wouldn't count on it."

When Kel and Dom got up the next morning they knew it was their last day with Raoul and Buri. They would be leaving around midday for Mastiff, since Lord Wyldon was currently in Corus to help with the peace delegations, meaning Raoul was taking over as district commander until he returned. Raoul would actually be relieving Alanna of the post, who was not happy to have it in the first place.

"Ready to get up love," Dom asked her gently, knowing she wasn't looking forward to Raoul and Buri leaving.

"No, but I don't think the rest of the world will listen to that answer," she grimaced into his chest.

"I'm afraid not, I'm pretty sure the sun is still rising," he chuckled.

"Come on, let's just get this day over with," she said moodily as she got out of bed and started to put her pants on.

Dom just laughed at her. "Sometimes I wonder what happened to that Yamani mask everyone says you have," he joked with her.

"That's reserved for people I don't like or don't know, or when I'm getting in trouble. So consider yourself special," with that said she turned around and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Oh. I consider myself very special," he said as he came up behind her and kissed her shoulder.

"Well I'm glad you know your place," she joked around with him. "Now get dressed. Tobe wanted to have breakfast as a family up here since they were leaving today. I think he's going to take them leaving harder than I am, poor kid."

"He'll be ok. He's tougher than he looks, besides he has his ma and da now," he smirked at her.

"Don't make me go correcting your speech, too," she teased him.

"Yes, mother," Dom laughed.

After a nice breakfast Raoul and Buri had decided to head out early, since it looked there was going to be a storm. Kel was glad they did, because by the time dinner was over the wind was trying to rip trees out of the ground and it was thundering and lightening like you wouldn't believe. Kel was nervous that the wind would damage some of the buildings. She already had the men bring in all the livestock and horses, she was just hoping that the crops wouldn't be too damaged.

"How is everything holding up," Dom called loudly from beside her as they stood under an overhang of the mess hall. It had just started to drizzle, but when combined with the wind it could have been a down pour, because it felt like the same thing.

"As long as everyone stays inside I think we should be ok," she yelled back. "Let's get into the mess hall."

They had made the mess hall into a staging area for those on duty throughout the storm. There was food available at one end of the hall and then cots set up at the other end. Everyone was sitting and enjoying a light meal when they heard a loud crack and felt the ground rumble. Quickly followed by another crack and more of the ground vibrating beneath their feet. Kel and Dom jumped to their feet and ran towards the door to look outside. They saw people pouring out of one of the refugee barracks as they had their mouths open in what must have been screams, but they couldn't be heard over the howling wind. That's when Kel and Dom saw the fire, they both jumped into action.

"Dom go get the rest of the men, we need to get all those people out and into the mess hall, then evacuate the barracks next to it as well until we get the fire out," she told him as she rushed out the door to start getting people to safety. Dom ran off to follow her orders.

As Kel got to the barracks she couldn't believe her eyes. Half the roof was blown open, now that she was closer she could hear the people screaming. She looked around for abled bodied people that seemed to have level heads about them still. She found a couple that she knew could keep their cool in tough situations.

"Dillon, Grace," she ran up to them. "What happened?"

"We were just sitting and relaxing, then all of a sudden we felt the barracks shake and the roof exploded and fire started. We tried to get people out, but I know there's still some in there," Dillon said.

"Ok, you did well," Kel tried to reassure him. "I need you to try and get everyone to the mess hall. Do you think you two could do that?" They nodded their heads to her. "Ok, I'm going to go inside and see if I can help anyone." With that Kel ran inside, trying to see if there was anyone trapped.

She could hear people screaming for help inside. It looked like some of the beams had fallen when the blast had occurred. If Kel had to guess, she would say lightning from the storm hit the barracks. First she found two children trapped under a bed by a fallen table, she lifted the table and told them to run out. She kept walking farther in, she was getting closer to the fire. She saw someone was stuck between two beams, thankfully Kel was able to figure out a simple solution and had the person break out the window and didn't have to disturb the already unstable beams. Kel was relieved that she had yet to find anyone that was actually injured. She kept going as the smell of smoke increased and she could hear someone screaming, apparently her previous thought was too soon. She started to run towards the fire, hoping that whoever it was, would be ok. When she got there she found a woman surrounded by fallen beams and roof debris that had all caught fire from the lightning. Kel was scrambling, frantically looking around for something to get to the woman with. The only thing Kel could hope to do was take one of the beams that had not yet caught on fire and lay it across the others and hope the woman could cross before it too caught fire. So Kel grabbed a manageable beam and laid it across the wreckage, pushing another beam under it to give it some balance.

"You have to run," Kel yelled to the woman, but she just stood there. "We really don't have time for this," Kel muttered to herself and she watched the bottom of the beam start to turn red.

"You need to run now!" She called again, noticing the rain and wind were starting to pick up. Still no response. She watched the wood, knew that if she waited much longer this woman would die. With that thought Kel ran across the beam to the woman and grabbed her arms and shook her. "Listen to me," Kel said sternly. "You must go across this beam by yourself, it will collapse from our combined weight, but you must go now and don't stop for any reason till you exit this building." With that said Kel turning her around and shoved her onto the wooden beam that was going to burst into flames at any moment. Kel watched as she kept running. Kel was half way across the beam herself when she heard the sound of wood creaking, she paused in her steps and looked up, only to see the rest of the roof coming down on top of her, she tried to jump out of the way…..

After Dom watched Kel run off towards the refugee barracks he went to the men, telling two of them stay there to help the people that would be coming there. He then sent two men to the barracks next to the one on fire to evacuate it. He also sent a man to get the rest of the soldiers and the healer, since they would be needed everyone's help for this. Once that was said and done, he and the remaining men went to help the wounding and disoriented people. When he got there he found that Dillon and Grace were already doing a good job of rounding people up, so he went over and talked to them.

"What happened?" he asked them.

"We'll tell you the same we told Lady Kel," Dillon said. "We was all sitting and relaxing. Next thing we know there was a big explosion and then the roof was on fire. Lady Kel asked us to try and get people rounded up to the mess hall, then she ran off in there to help whoever might be stuck. I don't know if she's still in there or not though."

Dom felt his heart go into his throat, Kel could be inside that building and they had no idea, thankfully the rain had at least put out the majority of the fire. He started to look around frantically for her. He would notice her, who wouldn't notice an almost six foot tall woman. All of a sudden he saw a woman run out of the barracks. He ran over to her before she could get lost in the crowd. Dom had to think for a minute to remember her name.

"Hannah, Hannah look at me. Is Lady Kel still inside? Is she still in there?" He asked her quickly, knowing at this point time was of the essence.

"She told me to keep going, no matter what. Just keep going," Hannah told him through tears, not wanting to look at him. Dom could feel the color draining from his face.

"Hannah, what do you mean, did something happen?"

"I…I don't know. I was running. Then I heard a loud crash. She should have been right behind me," Hannah sobbed. Dom just let go of Hannah's arms and raced towards the building only to be stopped by Wolset.

"It's not safe, Dom," he said.

"Kel's trapped in there, get the hell out of my way," Dom demanded, trying to swing on him.

Wolset just shook his head, knowing Dom was going into that building with or without them. "Just stay here for a minute at least. Let me get a few of the guys. Don't be stupid. Going in there by yourself will just get you killed and Kel more hurt then she more than likely already is," he gave him a strong stare.

"You have one minute before I go into that building," Dom told him. Wolset ran off and gathered up four other men and they raced back as Dom started making his way towards the door. They all made their way inside carefully, not sure what they would find. They found beds knocked over and wooden beams blown to the ground. They continued to make their way farther into the barracks, starting to see signs of fire damage, but the rains must have put them out since it had picked up more. Now they were seeing the roof was caved in on certain areas. Dom and the men started to call out Kel's name, not sure how far back she could have gone. They were still picking their way through the debris when Dom saw something that made his heart stop cold. There under a pile of rubble and a sheet of roof, was a feminine hand sticking out.

"Over here!" He screamed out to the other men, as he ran over towards the hand, hoping it was Kel, yet at the same time, not. Wolset got there at the same time as him, together they lifted off the large broken sheet of roof that had fallen on top of her. Once that was off Dom could see parts of Kel's face through the broken wood and debris that had fallen her.

Dom turned to one of the men, "Go to Headquarters, use the scrying bowl to message Mastiff to get ahold of Lord Raoul. Tell him Kel was gravely injured, speak only to him, go now! Conner, go get the healer, and a cot!"

The rest of them carefully unburied Kel. Lifting beams off her that weighed twice her amount and chunks of plaster that had cracked and fallen as well. By the time they had uncovered her, they could tell she was at least alive by the movement of her chest.

However, he could also tell she had several broken bones, from the odd angles that her arm, leg, and wrist were sitting at. She was also bleeding from her nose and she had a large gash on her forehead. Not to mention all the numerous cuts she has all over her body from wood splinters cutting through her cloths. He was pulled from his thoughts by the healer arriving. While he wasn't Neal, he would have to do. He watched as the healer used his magic on Kel, making her body glow red as Conner brought a cot and set it beside Kel.

The healer looked to Dom, "I put her into a deep sleep for now, so she won't feel pain. I would like to heal her some before moving her, but this building could finish collapsing at any moment." He rushed out.

Dom shook his head, they needed to move her. "Let's just try to be careful," he said as he leaned down and the healer and he gently lifted her onto the cot. They quickly left the building and heading right for the infirmary. Knowing that Kel needed to be seen to right away.

They set Kel down on a bed and the healer turned to Dom, "You need to wait outside," he stated to Dom.

"I'm not going anywhere," Dom told him looking right in his eyes, using every inch of his six foot plus frame. If he had to use intimidation, than he damn well was going to use it.

"Fine, but stay out of my way," he stated tersely.

Dom sat in his chair and watched as the healer fixed stuff he couldn't see, after twenty minutes one of his men came in to tell him that he spoke to Lord Raoul. He, Buri, and Duke Baird were on their way and would be traveling through the night to get there. That made Dom feel better, whatever this crack of a healer couldn't do, his uncle would make sure Kel was healed correctly. Dom just sat and watched more. The hours passed and still he watched. Her limbs still bent at odd angles, still not sure what was going on. Finally he saw her leg start to go back to a normal angle, he also saw the man was about to pass out.

Dom got up and went over to the healer, gripping his shoulder. "Take a break. I don't know what you've been working on, but my Uncle, Duke Baird is on his way, they should be here within the hour. And you look like you'll need your own healer soon."

The healer looked up at him wearily. "Thank you, I'm afraid I still don't know my limits. Lady Kel had extensive internal injuries from when one of the beams fell across her abdomen. It caused multiple organs to rupture. She also had a concussion. Those injuries were more life threatening then there broken bones. They also take a great more time and energy to heal. It's a good thing your uncle is coming, they could use additional healing, it will help with her recovery. With those types of injuries, you can only heal the area so much at a time. It will, of course, continue to heal on its own, but additional healing will always speed up recovery."

"Thank you, for all you've done," Dom told him. "Go get some rest. I'll sit with her."

"I have her in an induced sleep. I don't want to take her out of it for a bit, at least till her head it better and her organs are healed a little more," the healer told him as he made his way towards the door.

Dom just sat next to Kel. He didn't care if she slept for the next month. She was alive. That's all that mattered to him. He sat there with her, thanking every god and goddess he could think of that she was still alive when Raoul, Buri, and his uncle rushed into the infirmary.

"Gods, is she going to be ok?" Raoul came hurried over to Kel, reaching out to pick up her hand, but stopping when he saw it was still at an odd angle, along with the rest of her arm.

His uncle already started to go over her with his own magic, most likely had started to heal her as well. "The healer said she had a lot of internal injuries. He worked on her for hours. He had just managed to fix her leg when he looked like he was going to pass out himself. I told him to stop and go get some rest. The roof collapsed on top of her when she was saving one of a women trapped inside the refugee barracks that was struck by lightning. I almost didn't see her, the only thing sticking out was her hand, and that was barely visible with how dark it was and how everything had fallen. We had to literally dig her out," Dom looked at Raoul with haunted eyes. "I thought…I thought I lost here," he whispered. "I thought she was dead. I thought the one person I loved more than life itself, was gone forever. I felt like the gods gave me another life when I saw her breathing. She was broken, battered, and bruised, but she was breathing and alive. "

"She'll be ok Dom," Raoul told him. Trying to reassure himself just as much as Dom. It was hard to look down at Kel and see her like that.

"Baird, what's the damage?" Raoul heard Buri ask.

"A number was done that's for sure. Your healer did a good job so far, he just ran out of magic to finish the job. She had a number of internal injuries, it takes a lot to heal those. What fell on her?" Baird asked, wanting to know if he should look farther for more injuries.

"A beam fall right across her stomach," Dom replied numbly. "Along with other beams and pieces of debris, then there was the eight foot section of roof we had to lift off of her."

"I'll look for more injuries just to be sure," he said as he poured more healing magic into her. They watched as her bones slowly went back into a normal position and the cuts on her skin started to heal. After another hour had passed Duke Baird looked up at them, "There's nothing more I can do for now, I'll heal her more in the morning. The best thing for her is rest. We'll take her out of the sleep in the morning."

With that Dom showed his uncle to Neal's room, so he could get some rest, knowing that he would have to heal Kel more in the morning. Then he went back to her side and Raoul, Buri and he got ready to post up for the night.

Morning came, sometime during the night Tobe had snuck into the infirmary and was now asleep on the floor next to Kel's bed. Dom and Raoul had not slept at all throughout the night, too worried about Kel. Duke Baird had just came out from Neal's rooms and was going over Kel again.

"Why don't you two go get something to eat, then I'll wake her from the magic sleep, but it may take her a few hours to wake up after that," he told them.

"I'll just stay here," Dom told him, earning him a hard look from his uncle.

"Dom, I am telling you as your uncle, go get some food. She'll still be here, I won't let anything happen to her," he laid a reassuring hand on Dom's shoulder.

"Ok uncle, I'll be back in half an hour," with that Dom leaned over and gave Kel a light kiss on her forehead and then walked out the door. He had a few things to do.

Half an hour later saw a very anxious Dom, Raoul, Buri, and Tobe around Kel, who was being brought out of the magical sleep. They saw the light green magic fade from Kel's skin.

"Now we just wait," Duke Baird said to them all. With that they all sat in for what could be a very long few hours.

Kel could feel pain all over her body, but didn't remember why. The last thing she recalled was going into the building that had been struck by lightning. She slowly opened her eyes, letting out a groan from the blinding sunlight. She heard a sudden shuffle of feet.

"Kel…Kel love? Can you hear me?" She heard Dom call as she felt him take her hand. She was finally able to see and looked up to into Dom's worried face.

Kel tried to answer him but all she could get out was a croaking sound. She saw him grab a glass of water and bring it up to her lips, she took a greedy gulp from it and then tried again.

"What happened?" she asked him.

"You mean you don't remember?" he looked at her with concern, then over to his uncle, who she just noticed was there, then she saw Raoul and Buri were also there.

"It's a side effect from the concussion Dom, she'll be fine, it's normal. She may remember later or she may not," Duke Baird told him.

Dom just nodded his head before looking back at Kel. "You went into the building that was struck by lightning, do you remember that?" he asked her gently as he stroked her cheek.

"I remember just before entering the building, then nothing," she told him.

"When I got there I was getting people to the mess hall when I saw Dillon and Grace, who said you ran inside the building. I was making my way over to it when Hannah ran out. She was hysterical, she said you saved her, told her to keep running no matter what. When I got her to calm down enough to explain she said she heard a loud crash, and that you should have been right behind her, but you never came out. We went looking for you and found you buried under a pile of rubble. Part of the roof had collapsed on top of you Kel," he said quietly. "We got you over here as fast as we could, I sent word to Raoul and they left Mastiff as soon as they had found out."

"You gave us all quite the scare young lady," Raoul told her as he came up beside her. "I'm just glad to see you'll make a full recovery" With that he leaned down and gave her a gentle hug.

"Mother," Tobe came up to her cautiously.

"I'll be fine Tobe," Kel smiled to him. "Nothing a little time won't fix. Why don't you go play with the children? I don't want you cooped up in here because of me." She lifted her good arm to give Tobe a light hug, which he gladly returned. Raoul and Buri helped to usher Tobe out of the infirmary as Duke Baird made his way to the mess hall, hoping to beg an early lunch, as his reserves were depleted from all the healing he was doing on Kel, leaving Dom and Kel alone.

"How are you really feeling?" Dom asked her.

"I feel like I was just trampled by a squadron of men," she grimaced at him. "But I'll live."

Dom couldn't hold it in anymore. He was beyond worried and pissed off. "Gods Kel, you almost died! I thought you were dead when I saw you under that pile of rubble. We literally had to lift an eight foot section of roof off of you and then a huge beam that feel right across your stomach. It's amazing you weren't crushed," by this point he was pacing. "That's not even counting all the other wood and plaster that we had to move. All I kept thinking was please don't be dead. When we got everything off it moved to thank god she's breathing! You are never allowed to do that to me again!" he stopped pacing and was staring at her.

"I didn't mean to do it to you in the first place," she tried to joke with him, but he wasn't having it. He came over to her side and sat on the edge of the bed.

"I'm serious Kel, I would be lost without you. You're not allowed to die, if you're going to do something as stupid and foolish as running into a burning building, at least wait for backup. I need you too much, Tobe needs you too much." He then leaned over and gave her a deep kiss, reveling in the fact that she could actually return it.

When Kel leaned back she looked at Dom, in his hand he was holding a little open box, with a beautiful sapphire and gold ring in it, accompanied by a plainer gold band. Kel just looked from the box to Dom, who was giving her a brilliant smile.

"I was going to wait and do some big romantic gesture, but after last night, I couldn't let another day go by without asking you," he said. "I was so scared that I would never get to share my life with you, never see my children grow in your beautiful body, or watch you be the amazing mother to them that you are. I was scared that you would be lost to me forever, and I would be alone, because I would never want anyone after having you Kel. So Keladry of Mindelan, Goldenlake, and Malorie's Peak," Dom said, getting down on one knee. "Would you please make me the happiest man on the earth and marry me?"

Kel couldn't stop the tears with her Yamani mask even if she wanted to. The man that she loved with all her heart just poured his soul out for her and asked her to marry her. "Of course," she whispered to him. "I would love to marry you." She smiled brightly.

He stood up and leaned over the bed, giving her a gentle yet passionate kiss, trying to keep in mind her injuries. "I love you Kel," he whispered to her. "I even thought to have a ring made for when you are working," he beamed at her as he showed her the plain gold band as he slipped it on her finger. "The other one was my great grandmother's ring. We were really close before she passed and she wanted me to give it to my betrothed. We'll have to get it fitted once we get back to Corus though, I'm afraid her hands were a lot smaller than yours," he chuckled.

Kel didn't care about having to get the ring fitted, they were both perfect. "They're perfect Dom," she told him lovingly. "I couldn't be more honored to have your great grandmother's ring. I love you."

There you go finished. I want to go on and on, but I just don't have time to now. So I figured a finished story is better than leaving it hanging. If you're following the story I'll drop an update on it when I start on the second part of this story, most likely this summer. I do plan on doing at least one more scene for Time goes on 85, my M rated section, but it will just be a random scene and I won't be getting to it till later. I was just trying to finish this story for everyone. I hope everyone enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.


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